Finally We Hear About Harden's Shoulder

[Clapp]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->But sources also confirmed Saturday that Harden has a tear in the joint, just severe enough that some players might seek surgery but slight enough to be in a range often treated effectively with a strengthening program, therapy and a well- managed work schedule.

That's more than the Cubs let on last fall, even after the revelation that Harden had a cortisone shot for ''rotator tendinitis.''<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

No surprise. Sounds like he's training hard though and his shoulder feels better than it did when he joined us:

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->But Harden has been working six days a week this offseason on a program that might be the most rigorous of any Cub -- and the first of his career to focus this strongly on his shoulder, team officials say. In fact, the team estimates his shoulder is stronger now than it was when he joined the team in July and started piling up 97 mph scoreless innings.

''I'm on a set program, and I'm not behind at all,'' Harden said. ''I'm right on schedule and feeling great. I'll be ready for the start of the season for sure. There's no doubt in my mind. Nobody has any doubts whether I'll be ready or not. I will.''

If anything, that might have been the confusion with Rothschild's comments -- that Harden isn't ready to throw from a mound by design. He's on a deliberate throwing program to ease him up to pitching condition by the end of an extra-long 2009 spring training.

When he's right, Harden is the best pitcher on the staff -- going 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 71 innings after joining the Cubs.

''I don't think he'll be a question mark,'' Piniella said, adding that 25 or 26 starts each from Harden and lefty Sean Marshall will make the Cubs happy -- underscoring the need to add or develop a sixth starter for the rotation.

Harden, who only started throwing less than two weeks ago and got high marks from the training staff the day he threw for Rothschild, seems confident with his newfound level of strength.

''We're just going to have to manage my pitch count and innings,'' he said, ''and my goal is to pitch a full season and hopefully get 200-plus innings. But I know that if I need to cut a game short or something like that, we're going to have to do that and try to really manage my pitch count. I feel like I'm in better shape now, and my shoulder's stronger than it has been in a long time.''<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Linkage(Sun-Times)

[rok]

That's encouraging, but nothing would surprise me at this point. The sky's the limit if he comes anywhere near 200 innings, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Fella]

Well I guess we know why he wore down at the end the season. But, yeah if he could somehow ever throw 200+ innings he would be one of the best pitchers in the league, no doubt. Seems pretty unlikely though. Still if he could give us 20-25 starts with the same stuff he had last July/August, that would be pretty amazing.

[kbwsb]

IMO, we should count on him for a lot less than 25 starts. All of the aim should be for him to peak in late September/October.
(almost how Olympians train...so that everything is geared for them to peak at the Olympics)

[HemisFear]

<!--quoteo(post=12275:date=Jan 18 2009, 02:55 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Jan 18 2009, 02:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->IMO, we should count on him for a lot less than 25 starts. All of the aim should be for him to peak in late September/October.
(almost how Olympians train...so that everything is geared for them to peak at the Olympics)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I'm with you on this. I think you keep him fresh, especially at the first half of the year by working him in at 5-6 innings per start, and ensure that any chance we get to give him a day off, we do. Lou knows he has a total winner in this kid and he's not going to ruin him by overdoing it out of the gate. I think if we can land Peavy, it takes a lot of preasure off of Harden (assuming the rest of the staff can stay healthy) to perform at a high level and he can focus on making his pitches, being a solid contributor to the team, and not focusing on anything but the marathon ahead.

I like him for 20-25 starts but I'd REALLY like to see him make 4-5 successful starts in the playoffs!!!!

[Kid]

<!--quoteo(post=12323:date=Jan 18 2009, 06:42 PM:name=HemisFear)-->QUOTE (HemisFear @ Jan 18 2009, 06:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I like him for 20-25 starts but I'd REALLY like to see him make 4-5 successful starts in the playoffs!!!!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That would be A-MAZ-ING!!!!

[HemisFear]

<!--quoteo(post=12356:date=Jan 18 2009, 08:43 PM:name=Kid)-->QUOTE (Kid @ Jan 18 2009, 08:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12323:date=Jan 18 2009, 06:42 PM:name=HemisFear)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HemisFear @ Jan 18 2009, 06:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I like him for 20-25 starts but I'd REALLY like to see him make 4-5 successful starts in the playoffs!!!!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That would be A-MAZ-ING!!!!
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Clapp]

Kid got owned because the page won't load? Ok.

[HemisFear]

<!--quoteo(post=12362:date=Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM:name=Clapp)-->QUOTE (Clapp @ Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Kid got owned because the page won't load? Ok.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Looks like I don't have rights to upload picks for download. Oh well. Just a silly joke anyway.

[Ace]

<!--quoteo(post=12399:date=Jan 19 2009, 10:22 AM:name=HemisFear)-->QUOTE (HemisFear @ Jan 19 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12362:date=Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM:name=Clapp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Clapp @ Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Kid got owned because the page won't load? Ok.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Looks like I don't have rights to upload picks for download. Oh well. Just a silly joke anyway.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's weird. I can see the picture.

[Ace]

I put together my thoughts on Rich Harden's injury here. A snippet:

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Harden is a free agent after this year, so he’s got all the incentive in the world to pitch and pitch well this year....

The Cubs have an incentive to let him pitch through it, too. After all, if he has surgery, there’s no guarantee he pitches, and pitches well, this year at all. And this year is all the Cubs have - I guess it’s that way every year.

So why is that scary? Well, you’ve got a player with a strong incentive not to get surgery even if he kind of needs it, and you’ve got a team with a strong incentive not to have that player get surgery even if he kind of needs it. That’s a dangerous combination that could blow up mid-season, and then Harden would definitely be unavailable when the Cubs need him most: October.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I also have concluded that there is zero chance Harden is with the Cubs after 2009.

[savant]

If Harden were to have season ending shoulder surgery in June or early July, I could see Hendry bringing him back.

[Ace]

<!--quoteo(post=12405:date=Jan 19 2009, 11:42 AM:name=savant)-->QUOTE (savant @ Jan 19 2009, 11:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->If Harden were to have season ending shoulder surgery in June or early July, I could see Hendry bringing him back.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

On a one year plus team option deal, sure. But another team will top that, and the Cubs won't commit multiple years to him if he's just had shoulder surgery. Just my opinion. But it's a fact. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

[Mikey]

<!--quoteo(post=12400:date=Jan 19 2009, 09:33 AM:name=Ace)-->QUOTE (Ace @ Jan 19 2009, 09:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12399:date=Jan 19 2009, 10:22 AM:name=HemisFear)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HemisFear @ Jan 19 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12362:date=Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM:name=Clapp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Clapp @ Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Kid got owned because the page won't load? Ok.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Looks like I don't have rights to upload picks for download. Oh well. Just a silly joke anyway.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's weird. I can see the picture.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
what is it of?

[Ace]

<!--quoteo(post=12429:date=Jan 19 2009, 04:40 PM:name=Mikey)-->QUOTE (Mikey @ Jan 19 2009, 04:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12400:date=Jan 19 2009, 09:33 AM:name=Ace)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ace @ Jan 19 2009, 09:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12399:date=Jan 19 2009, 10:22 AM:name=HemisFear)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HemisFear @ Jan 19 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=12362:date=Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM:name=Clapp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Clapp @ Jan 18 2009, 09:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Kid got owned because the page won't load? Ok.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Looks like I don't have rights to upload picks for download. Oh well. Just a silly joke anyway.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's weird. I can see the picture.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
what is it of?
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

A screenshot. So wait, no one else can see it? What does it say when you try to see it?