Franklin Gutierrez was playing catch early in spring training when he tore a pectoral muscle. The original prognosis was that he'd miss a month, but March came and went without a Gutierrez sighting. Four months later, though, he's back and ready to go:
In 2011, Franklin Gutierrez became the 29th outfielder in major-league history to have an OPS+ lower than 55 in over 300 at-bats, joining such luminaries as Corey Patterson, Willy Taveras, and Peter Bergeron.
But there were extenuating circumstances, as Gutierrez was diagnosed with and treated for irritable bowel syndrome. He spent the offseason regaining weight, and he was optimistic that he could get back to his 2009 or 2010 form.
The Mariners have been using Michael Saunders in center during Gutierrez's absence, and he's been the team's best hitter. But with Mike Carp going on the DL, an outfield spot opened up, and I'm pretty sure it isn't going to Chone Figgins, so Death to Flying Things will ride again.
After a fantastic 2009 season -- his first with the Mariners -- Gutierrez slumped in 2010. And 2011 was even worse, as a mysterious ailment cost him much of the season, and he finished with terrible hitting stats. There was some good news, though: Gutierrez's brilliant defense showed up again. And everyone's been hoping the center fielder, now 29, would regain his batting stroke and his durability in 2012.
Well, there's been another detour. Tuesday, Gutierrez suffered an injury while throwing and was immediately pulled from the field. Wednesday, we've got the diagnosis:
Franklin Gutierrez has a partial tear of his pectoral muscle and will be out at least four weeks.
It's the "at least" that's a little scary. Gutierrez seems unlikely to resume any strenuous baseball activities for at least a month, which means he certainly won't be ready for the Mariners' Opening Day in Japan. Which isn't to say he won't be patrolling center field like Willie Mays by the middle of April. But you can't help wondering ...
This was supposed to be the season of Franklin Gutierrez's re-emergence. But for Gutierrez and the Mariners, 2012 is off to an ominous start. Gutierrez sustained an injury to his shoulder area while throwing, and it was later identified that he hurt his pectoral muscle. He was sent in for an MRI Tuesday and the Mariners were to provide an update Wednesday, but the Wednesday update is vague and worrisome:
Gutierrez was sent back to Seattle to see the team doc. Wedge says there is "considerable concern" but will not speculate further
Now, it's still possible that Gutierrez isn't hurt badly, and could return to camp soon. As you might've noticed, we don't know very much. But when you start mixing uncertainty, imagination, and a player with a medical history, you can come up with frightening things. Something's going on with Franklin Gutierrez, and that something might be bad.
Tuesday morning, Franklin Gutierrez was practicing baseball, and he was fine. Then, after throwing a baseball, he was not fine, and he was driven away from camp by a Mariners assistant trainer. The word at that point was that Gutierrez had sustained an injury to the shoulder area.
"We don’t really know anything yet," manager Eric Wedge said. "We’re waiting on the MRI results and will figure out the game plan after we get that. He felt something in the pec region when we were taking infield today, so we’ll wait and see what the results show and go from there."
I could speculate as to the nature of Gutierrez's injury, but that would probably be unwise. Gutierrez re-joined the Mariners later in the day, and said:
Gutierrez is back. "We'll see," he answered when asked if he was okay.
Drayer said that he "looked okay," but looks can deceive. The best-case scenario for Gutierrez and the Mariners is that he's day-to-day. The worst-case scenario is a hell of a lot worse than that.
