Eight days ago, I had made a poll asking if the Red Sox should re-sign Curt Schilling. The voting was close with 33 saying yes and 27 saying no.
The Red Sox have never extended a contract during the season under Theo’s reigns. The Red Sox made the right decision in waiting until the end of the year to make a decision to see where he stood healthwise. And that decision looks none the wiser right now.
Schilling’s MRI results are back and on most accounts things are ok. They didn’t find any structural damage and it seems to be a case of tendinitis. What’s concerning to me is that this may have been going on all year. This could explain his up and down outings on the mound.
“This has been going on, on and off, since late spring training, from a feel standpoint, I just have not felt right this year and itÂ’s had an immense amount of influence on the inconsistency that IÂ’’ve gone through, and that’s the disappointing part.”
“I wasn’t discomfort free [pitching in Atlanta],” Schilling said. “Pain is a relative term. There’s been a lot of, this year, trying to discern what’s because I’m 40, and what’s because I don’t feel good, that’s been kind of what we’ve tried to do here.”
“My thought is, from what I’ve heard, I have a little touch of tendinitis that’s causing some other things to happen,” Schilling said. “No, I don’t really think I’ve ever been at this point before because the other day … well my last two starts, I’m throwing the ball, and it’s obviously hot and muggy out, 80 degrees with Atlanta humidity and I can’t throw the ball. I mean, it’s almost like firing out of your stance [as a football lineman does] and trying to block a guy without being able to bring your hands up. I mean I had nothing. And it was a tough one.”
“The scary part was the similarities in the innings,” Schilling said. “When I tore my labrum in 1995, I was throwing the ball 95 m.p.h. one inning, and the next thing I went out and I was throwing the ball 82 m.p.h. and I didn’t have any pain until the next day. The other night, thatÂ’s exactly what happened. I could not throw the ball. I could not get anything on the baseball. I was throwing the ball 82 m.p.h. and fortunately I didn’t wake up the next day with the pain, so there’s none of that. That was an eerie similarity that was playing on my head pretty severely there.”
You have to think the Red Sox knew about this all season. Then again maybe they didn’t. Only they will know.
Schilling is headed now to the disabled list where he will spend at least the next 15 days rehabbing his shoulder. He had a cortisone injection yesterday and will be examined again on Friday in Boston before heading out to San Diego to rejoin his teammates.
There is a lot of speculation going on right now as to who will be called up to replace him. With the day off on Thursday, Josh Beckett will pitch on Sunday on his regular rest and Yo-Yo Tavarez will pitch on Monday. The Sox will need a starter for Tuesday. Could it be Jon Lester? Or it will be Kason Gabbard again? I think it’s going to all depend on how long Schilling will really be out. They will backdate it to yesterday, so if he spends only 15 days on the DL, they will only need a starter for two days.
Tavarez has been pitching well enough to stay in the rotation. Lester can definitely help out and so can Gabbard. They will probably call up either a reliever or position player for the next four games after tonight’s game and then will need a starter.
So stay tuned. It is good news it’s nothing major for Schilling. I think I felt the big gasp of air let out this morning when the news broke.
