Mathieson to have 2nd surgery?

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The news on Mathieson isn’t good.

He’ll visit Dr. James Andrews for an arthroscopic procedure Thursday in Birmingham, Ala., though there’s a good chance Mathieson will need another ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction.

Mathieson said he was told by Andrews that a scope might solve the issue, which would keep him out for a shorter time frame. He’s not ready to concede his season, yet.

“I’ll wake up [Thursday] and I’ll either be out four to six weeks or a year,” Mathieson said by phone.

There really isn’t a lot else to say. Its a shame to see a promising arm struggle with injuries, especially right after he reached the big leagues. We can just hope that he doesn’t need a second TJ, and if he does, that he can recover quickly.

10 thoughts on “Mathieson to have 2nd surgery?”

  1. Honestly, at this point I’m not even worried about a timetable for Mathieson — I just hope he can pitch again. If you told me now he’d be pitching in relief for the Phillies sometime in 2010, I’d breathe a sigh of relief.

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  2. I thought this was gonna be his 3rd major surgery? Or did you mean its only his 2nd TJ surgery? I can we can probably move Mathieson off the “promising prospect” list over to the “Long shot hope he comes back” list.

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  3. The surgery he had in the fall was a more minor procedure, and the timetable was expected to only be a few months for recovery. If he has TJ again, he’s done for at least another 14-18 months.

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  6. Just caught this bit in the article: Mathieson fell into the 10 percent of pitchers who don’t recover from Tommy John surgery. The recovery rate is “about 30” percent for second-time surgeries, though Eric Gagne and Doug Brocail are two success stories.

    30%…ouch.

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  7. he’s done. too bad. i think that he would have been a very good reliever at worst, but potentially a starter.

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  8. In a weird way, the possibility that only a “scoping” may be needed is a lot better than the intrusive surgery. That choice may have to be made by Mathieson himself…and that’s a tough one.

    Hoping that the scope is chosen AND that it is successful…to allow at least some pitching in the post-season instructional games AND MAYBE a follow-up in one of the Carribean winter lgs.

    From the little personal stuff I’ve read about him is that he is chock-full of desire, and is greatly coachable, so IMO he’d likely be somewhat devastated if this is a career-ending thing.

    Hope the Phils will stick it out with him! And the best of luck to him!

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  9. Realistically count him out for the rest of this year. Then he will need at least half of 2009 if not all to get back to the big leagues. He could make an impact for 2010 with the Phils.

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  10. Well he had TJ surgery yesterday so we’ll see how it goes…figure at least 12-18 months before they know anything. Which means he likely won’t pitch again until Fall 2009. Sadly, the odds are that he’s done.

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