Spring training is barely here and the Cincinnati Reds have already gotten bad news on two pitchers on the 40-man roster. Homer Bailey had to have his elbow scoped to remove bone spurs, setting him back 4-6 weeks at the very least. Today we learned from Cincinnati Enquirer beat writer Zach Buchanan that Nick Travieso is recovering from a shoulder injury.
Travieso dealt with scapular dyskinesis. “Yeah, I know. I was surprised when I heard it too. ‘Can I get a vowel, please?’”
— Zach Buchanan (@ZachENQ) February 13, 2017
I didn’t go to medical school, and the odds are, you didn’t either. However, even if you did, this may not be your field of expertise. Here’s what the internet tells me about scapular dyskinesis:
Abnormal movement of the shoulder blade (scapula) is known as scapula dyskinesis. This occurs in a variety of shoulder problems. It is an important sign of an underlying shoulder disorder and a guide to shoulder rehabilitation.
There are apparently three different types of scapular dyskinesis. Here’s what shoulderdoc.com says about them:
Type 1 – Infero-medial scapula border prominence
This becomes more evident in the cocking position of overhead sports. It is often associated with tightness at the anterior side of the shoulder (in flexibility of the pectoralis major/ minor muscles) and weakness of the lower trapezius and serratus anterior muscles. Posterior tipping of the scapula is responsible for functional narrowing of the subacromial space during the overhead motion, leading to pain in the abduction/externally rotated position. This is often noticed in the early stages of shoulder disorders.
Type 2 – Medial border prominence
This pattern is winging of the entire medial border of the scapula at rest. It becomes more prominent in the cocking position and after repetitive elevation of the upper extremity. It is caused by fatigue of the scapula stabilising muscles (trapezius and rhomboids).
Type 3 – supero-medial border prominence
This type of dyskinesis is displayed as a prominence of the superior medial border of the scapula and often associated with impingement and rotator cuff injury.
There’s still a lot here that honestly goes over my head as a non-doctor. Here’s something that Zach Buchanan also tweeted out earlier:
Nick Travieso is apparently recovering from a shoulder ailment, and is restarting his throwing program. So he’s behind everyone else.
— Zach Buchanan (@ZachENQ) February 13, 2017
How far behind everyone else that puts him, I’m not entirely sure. We will probably find out more information as spring training moves forward.
In the facebook chat session with Zach Buchanan and C. Trent Rosecrans I asked about it and they expanded on it a little bit. Both noted that Nick Travieso says it’s behind him at this point and the rehab work went well. That he feels better and stronger at this point. Hopefully this was just a small hiccup. We’ve seen shoulder issues that popped up in the past for guys where rehab worked just fine (Travis Wood and Homer Bailey both jump out as guys where shoulder rehab worked great for them). At the same time, we’ve seen other examples where rehab didn’t quite go as well. Time will tell, but at least from what we are hearing now, this seems to be a minor issue along the road.