Comments on: Parker Will Have Tommy John Surgery

By: John Manuel

John Manuel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:45:09 +0000

I actually think the injuries are the only red flag on Jason Heyward right now. I don’t fault the Braves for sending him to the AFL though, and there’s talk he’ll still play winter ball. The Braves clearly want to get him ready for 2010, which I suppose should tell us what they think of Jordan Schafer but more what they think of Heyward. They hae plenty of room in their lineup for an impact corner bat.

By: MJ

MJ — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:04:12 +0000

Okay, last question about Heyward–why did the Braves send him to the AFL anyway, if every time he comes up with some kind of tweak, they bench him out of “precautionary measures?” Why not just send him to instructs, where it’s more relaxed, less pressure, and he can still work on his game? It seems kind of wasteful if he’s getting minimal game action in the AFL, and not doing much riding the pine. To me, a 20-year old built like he is, with all his injuries thus far, albeit none serious, puts up a bit of a red flag. Agree or am I being too harsh?
Thanks for your comments, BA!

By: MJ

MJ — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:59:15 +0000

I sure hope to see Parker toeing the rubber for the D-Backs sometime in 2012 then!

By: John Manuel

John Manuel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:37:34 +0000

MJ, it’s not a deep farm system. I’d still consider him their No. 1 prospect personally because I like the track record of Tommy John surgery and Parker’s stuff when he was healthy. He has some wiggle room, his stuff was that good. If he loses a grade, even across the board, he’s still got two plus pitches. But we have work to do to report it for the Handbook, but he could pull an Erik Bedard from back when he was with the Orioles and ranked No. 1 even after having TJ.

By: geo

geo — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:02:53 +0000

mj, don’t panic about Heyward yet. A pulled hamstring (that’s what he has, which qualifies as a “sore leg” but is more expicit as to why it’s sore) can keep a player sidelined for several days or even a couple of weeks. No need to be all gloom and doom about it being torn.

By: MJ

MJ — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:19:04 +0000

And speaking of injuries…what’s the most recent status on Jason Heyward? He’s missed 5 straight games…and that can’t be because of just a “sore leg.” Did he tear a hamstring, or something? I heard that may have been the case? Any validity to that? How concerned should we be about him being fragile at this stage?

By: MJ

MJ — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:29:39 +0000

What kind of damage does this do to his D-Backs prospect status? Still a top-10?