Rickie Weeks to 15-day DL (Expected to start Sunday 9/11)

[razzzorsharp]

So I assume no news is good news regarding this injury. I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop and hear bad news going by how gruesome is looked.

[monty57]

I've heard a couple of announcers say it was going to be on the longer side of the 2-6 weeks, but that's certainly nothing official.

[dlk9s]

Rickie should just stay away. Since he's been gone, the Brewers haven't lost. They're obviously much better without him.

 

 

[dlk9s]

Still undefeated without Rickie! Who needs a bat at 2nd base? Not the Brewers!

[Mays Hayes]

Uecker said he talked to Rickie before the game today, and he was feeling good about the rehab so far. Cast is off, and he's walking on it.

[razzzorsharp]

Uecker said he talked to Rickie before the game today, and he was feeling good about the rehab so far. Cast is off, and he's walking on it.

That's awesome.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Rickie the workout warrior! He'll be back sooner than everyone thinks!

[berniebrewer4life]

Uecker said he talked to Rickie before the game today, and he was feeling good about the rehab so far. Cast is off, and he's walking on it.

Wow, that's pretty impressive. Maybe he will be closer to 3 weeks than 6? I hope so.

[Dragonbait]

With Rickie's tolernce to pain... i do expect him to come back sooner....

 

Are we sure Rickie wasn't born to play football? Or Rugby?

[Baldkin]

I'd rather he come back later, at 100% than sooner at 80%. Ankles are so easy to re-injure.

[FVBrewerFan]

Exactly. I don't think it's a matter of pain tolerance, the ankle needs to be sound. Well worth waiting an extra week if it means the injury is behind him for the rest of the season.

[Invader3K]

I agree. We need him as healthy as possible for October. Don't rush him back. We should be fine with Lopez and Hairston until then.

[rluzinski]

Wow, the fact that he's walking around without a cast is HUGE. A conservative guess (and that's all it really is) might be 3 more weeks?

[Oldcity]

That would be just ridiculous if it was anything less than four weeks. I was sure he was done for the season when I saw it.

[monty57]

Roenicke seems to like Lopez. When Rickie's back, will Lopez be our everyday 3B?

[endaround]

I do think Lopez and McGehee are currently auditioning for playing time (yeah its stupid). I think we might see a platoon situation develop since Roenicke does try to dump left handed bats in teh line up on occasion.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd rather he come back later, at 100% than sooner at 80%. Ankles are so easy to re-injure.

While it's true that ankles are easily re-injured, I don't think it has much to do with how soon you came back. It's the initial injury that weakens the joint, not really how long you rest it. Ankles heal at different rates depending on the severity but what you do depends entirely on how it feels.

 

I've had ankle injuries that I incurred playing competitive basketball. If he's already walking on it and putting his full weight on it without assistance, he's already well on his way. The next step, is literally a step. Is he able to walk up and down steps normally, then he's close. The last hurdle will be pivoting on the ankle. The good news is that normal baseball movements are much less likely to injure ankles than a sport like basketball, where it's very easy to land on another foot. Most ankle injuries in baseball are from landing awkwardly on a base, just as Weeks did. To some extent you can control that.

[monty57]

The good news is that normal baseball movements are much less likely to injure ankles than a sport like basketball, where it's very easy to land on another foot.

 

True, but 2B is probably the position where a player has to pivot/stop quickly more than any other in baseball. He just needs to make sure that it's healed to the point that it won't inhibit his lateral movement and won't easily turn on him every time he moves in any direction other than a straight line.

 

It is great news that he's out of the cast. I'm sure the Brewers' training staff has a program in place to determine the strength of the ankle and when it's ready to play, as sprained ankles are pretty common in sports.

[pitchleague]

Exactly. I don't think it's a matter of pain tolerance, the ankle needs to be sound. Well worth waiting an extra week if it means the injury is behind him for the rest of the season.

especially if we are still playing good baseball when he's ready to come back.

[Baldkin]

I'd rather he come back later, at 100% than sooner at 80%. Ankles are so easy to re-injure.

While it's true that ankles are easily re-injured, I don't think it has much to do with how soon you came back. It's the initial injury that weakens the joint, not really how long you rest it. Ankles heal at different rates depending on the severity but what you do depends entirely on how it feels.

 

I've had ankle injuries that I incurred playing competitive basketball. If he's already walking on it and putting his full weight on it without assistance, he's already well on his way. The next step, is literally a step. Is he able to walk up and down steps normally, then he's close. The last hurdle will be pivoting on the ankle. The good news is that normal baseball movements are much less likely to injure ankles than a sport like basketball, where it's very easy to land on another foot. Most ankle injuries in baseball are from landing awkwardly on a base, just as Weeks did. To some extent you can control that.

The issue with re-injuring is how much rehab you have done to restrengthen the tendons. Rest comes first, but if you don't do the proper amount of rehab then the tendons will still be weak and will be much, much easier to have the same type of injury occur again. I'm sure he'll be in some sort of soft-brace for the rest of the season, while doing rubber band and "alphabet" workouts to get his ankle back to 100%.

[razzzorsharp]

Today is the three week mark. He has been taking grounders and there is talk of being ahead of schedule but still no exact timetable. Any new news?

[Mays Hayes]

A few days ago, Ueck said that he has started jogging... in a pool. To me thats a ways from playing baseball on dirt and grass.

How come FSN or the JS never seems to have much for updates on Rickie, but everytime I have to listen to the radio broadcast, Uecker had talked to him before the game and has some information to pass on? It's kind of a big deal! I was hoping we'd get updates throughout his recovery on a more consistant basis than we have.

Yet, unbelievablely, we've built a pretty nice lead with Rickie on the DL... no need to rush back at this point.

EDIT:
I just noticed this in Rosiak's K-Rod article from yesterday:

"Also, Roenicke said Rickie Weeks is now hitting in the cage and might accompany the Brewers on their next road trip, which begins this weekend in New York."

I guess that sounds pretty promising... I still say take your time.

[CheezWizHed]

So what spot should Rickie bat in when he comes back? First or fifth?

[fondybrewfan]

I think the goal really should be the next homestand.

 

I would absolutely put Rickie back at #5. McGehee more often than not has still been pretty underwhelming there. I like Hart/Morgan at the top.

[brwrsfan]

I think he has to go back into the 5 hole, sliding Casey and Betancourt down to 6 and 7, where they probably should be. Casey has been better lately, but not overly so (aside from the 1 game). I think Rickie would provide a much bigger threat and protection for Prince, even if he was only 80 or 90%.