Tommy Hanson Has Small Rotator Cuff Tear

Hello once again everyone.

I’m coming to you with a follow-up report on the health of Tommy Hanson. Unfortunately, and as I had feared, there is structural damage to Hanson’s shoulder. The Braves are playing down the severity of the injury, but given their recent history of issuing information on his injury that is, at best, misleading, I have no idea if the information is a full report or if the Braves are again being “selective”.

Per a series of Tweets by AJC.com’s David O’Brien, the injury is being described as a small “undersurface tear” in the rotator cuff. All other parts of the shoulder were said to be healthy. The Braves are said to think he’ll be able to avoid surgery. Frank Wren was also quoted as saying that he thought Hanson could be back in “a few weeks”, whatever that means. Hanson is supposed to consult with Dr. James Andrews on Monday, but all indications are that he will continue on his current rehab schedule.

Had the Braves been honest about the injury up to this point (maybe that’s too harsh, but at least they haven’t been very forthcoming), I might even see this as good news, as probably every player who throws a baseball or a football for a living has one of these small tears, if that’s all there is to it. I’m going to wait and hear from Dr. Andrews himself, as I have found him to be up-front in his prognoses, when his patients allow him to comment. Either way, I think the Braves will still be OK in the starting pitching department, especially if Derek Lowe can figure out how to avoid his “blow-up” inning in each start. But that’s a topic for another post.

Well, my take isn’t exactly peachy. Would you care to share yours?