When Zack Greinke‘s rib injury was first made public, it was easy to overreact, but the Brewers seemed fairly confident that he would only miss a couple starts.
Well, now things aren’t looking so rosy. That estimated return date of April 16 depended on Greinke being able to start his throwing program before the end of spring training, and according to John Schlegel of MLB.com, Greinke isn’t even able to play catch yet. Ron Roenicke doesn’t sound optimistic:
“If he’s ready at that point, I’m going to be really happy … I just don’t know if he’s going to be ready then. I think we’re not really planning on that early.”
If you weren’t panicking before, odds are better that you are now.
It’s worth noting that missing that April 16 debut would still fit into that “two to three starts” timeframe, but if he doesn’t start throwing in the next week, it might be time to get worried.
The Brewers’ training staff ranks well when compared to their peers, and I’m certainly not going to start complaining about them, but it never ceases to amaze me how inaccurate some of their ETAs are when it comes to rehab. The scariest part of this situation is that it’s starting to look a lot like a Ben Sheets situation, when we heard “Nothing to worry about, Benny’s only going to be out a couple of starts,” and then three weeks later he was just starting to throw.
Is it an unfair comparison? Probably. Greinke doesn’t have half the injury problems Sheets had, and from the outside at least seems to have a better work ethic. But can you really blame Brewers fans for getting that old feeling again?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
