Scott let me know that the Nationals just announced down in Viera that Brian Lawrence will be undergoing shoulder surgery and is not expected back until August.
Update (SMC): For clarification purposes, The announcement that Lawrence had had an MRI indicating a Labrum tear was made from one of the practice fields. The “team” made the announcement, but it was the team’s Medical Physician, Dr. Bruce Thomas who was actually speaking at that point. Bowden, Lawrence, and team orthopedist Dr. Wiemi Douoguih were actually standing there as well.
#1 by misschatter - February 25th, 2006 at 08:44
Holy cow! That kinda sucks.
#2 by VladiHondo - February 25th, 2006 at 14:16
meh. he was bad in Petco, he was probably going to be bad in RFK. Maybe gives a chance for Rauch to show his stuff, ala Majewski last year (started in NOLA, came up in place of Osuna)
#3 by Milford Mark - February 25th, 2006 at 15:31
Here’s a quote from yesterday’s spring training report.
Right-hander Brian Lawrence threw a bullpen session on Thursday and said his shoulder stiffness is a thing of the past. He threw on the mound for eight minutes without feeling any pain.
“Everything felt good,” Lawrence said. “I took it nice and easy. I threw from the windup and stretch. I threw changeups. I’m on the right track.”
Lawrence’s next bullpen session is Saturday.
How does this jive with labrum tear? I am confused.
#4 by Yuda - February 25th, 2006 at 15:37
I guess that was a nonsense PR story. The AP confirms Scott’s information now, although Scott still scooped them.
#5 by Scott M. Collins - February 25th, 2006 at 16:48
Mark, see my update to the story above. I was right there on the field for the team’s announcement. He had an MRI between yesterday and today and that revealed the tear.
#6 by Scott M. Collins - February 26th, 2006 at 20:04
Oh, I meant to add that I guess a scoop is technically when you’re the only person who has the ability to release information. For instance, say you were the first reporter that a player told he was retiring or something. I was just the quickest to release word from their impromptu press conference thanks to the nature of our outlet (a website instead of print media).