Derrek Lee

[WhatElse]

Well I for one thought I wouldn't see D-Lee return till the all-star break. so this comes as SURPRISING and WELCOMING news.

"Lee is scheduled to have the cast removed from his fractured right wrist Wednesday but will need at least 10 days to two weeks before rejoining the lineup, the Chicago Sun-Times reports"

I'll take it!

[absolut typical]

I see that they put him on the 15 day DL... But some are still skeptical of his mid june return.... Any advice on how long it takes someone to return back to prominence after this type of injury... more specifically...if he returns in 2 weeks..how many more weeks till hes back to his fantasy glory/ regains his hitting eye.

[Don G.]

from the little i know about that type of injury.....because it's bone on bone once it's healed, it's healed....that part of the body isn't any weaker as soon as the bones mend back together....that's why you hear it called a clean break sometimes..

that being said, i have no idea how long it takes to get back into game shape and gain your hitter's eye back...i would assume he'll have a strong second half of the season, but i wouldn't expect a world beater until then

right now im looking to reap the benefits of having him back after the all star break for the 2nd half of the season...if he comes back before then that's great too but i don't have high expectations right awya

[RenegadeOfFunk]

This report from the team trainer per Yahoo:

"It'll be some time within the next several weeks," O'Neal said. "If you've had casts, you've had significant atrophy where the muscles deteriorate. We've got to get his strength back before we can go into baseball activities. We are anticipating that taking somewhere between 10 days to two weeks... The X-rays showed significant healing. We can start trying to get the range of motion and strength back, try to get him moving back toward the field. I don't want people to think he's going to be walking out on the field in a week, because he's not. I hope we could get his strength back in a couple weeks." In other words, it could be two weeks before he even begins doing baseball activities and another week or two after that before he's ready to play again.

The bones may be strong, but it will take some time to regain the muscular strength in his wrist. Considering his health, work ethic, and the Cubs need to have him back on the field, I think Lee will be back quickly. I still think he could appear in the White Sox series at the end of June, but as far as effectiveness goes, I agree with previous posts looking for a strong post-All-Star break performance.

By the way, I think the ideas about Phil Nevin coming in because Lee is worse than people are admitting are totally false. The Cubs could've had much better, and Nevin can pinch hit, DH, and fill in for off days for Lee and ARam. They got him for a second basemen, of whom they had at least FOUR on the roster since signing Womack.

D. Lee: back by late June, effective by mid July after the All-Star Break. And I'm sticking to it.

[johnsamo]

I had my arm in a cast for six weeks and lost a lot of muscle mass in my forearms... That and my wrist ligaments titghtened up to. I think two weeks is too optimistic... That and, it could take a while to calibrate his swing again, and it's hard to recalibrate when you're also weakened. Long term, I think it'd be better if they got him back to near 100% of what he was before he starts swinging the bat. Doing it while he's still weak and tight won't really help him.

[johnsamo]

I hate to say it, but steroids would really speed up the forearm rehab.

[DevilDriver]

he better come back ASAP...I have Aubrey Huff at 1B right now

[Don G.]

well...huff has started turning it back on recently....seems like he's starting to get into a groove the past couple of days....let see if it continues through the weekend....im patiently waiting lee's return....im still not sure who i want to drop for him so it gives me some time to decide.

i have loretta, iguchi and huff as the most likely guys but it's really between loretta or huff.....i guess it depends on how the next month pans out...if huff starts getting hot then i'll stay with him but loretta offers a nice safe cushion in that lineup...he's not gonna lose you points.

[alwaysnextyear]

I hate to say it, but steroids would really speed up the forearm rehab.

Roids baby!!! I love roids talk. Baseball needs roids!!!






JK of course.

[subie101]

good news for us a-ram owners too.