Yardbarker: Ted Lilly

Lilly’s Surgery

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:14:23 -0500

Ted Lilly underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder yesterday. He won’t begin throwing until early March, which means he won’t be ready to go when the season begins. The Cubs are hopeful he’ll be ready to pitch sometime in April, but considering it was surgery on the shoulder I think that’s wishful thinking. Setbacks are common after surgery and Lilly isn’t likely to recover from this as perfectly as a mid-April timetable would require. I’d be...

Will Lilly's Surgery Affect the Cubs' Off-Season?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:45:00 -0500

Congratulations to the New York Yankees on their 27th World Series Championship. The 2009 season ended exactly one month after the Cubs campaign came to an end ... Warm up the oven, it's time for the Hot Stove Season. The 15-day free-agent filing period begins on Thursday ... teams have exclusive negotiating rights for the next 15 days in order to try and re-sign their would-be free agents. The Cubs are expected to re-sign John Grabow to a contract at some point over the next two weeks...

Ted Lilly Complains of Knee Pain and Gets His Shoulder Scoped

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:58:24 -0500

Sorry for missing the day's rampant speculation on Ted Lilly's left pitching shoulder arthroscopy. I was in the OR all day and connecting hip bones to...

So in one hour what can you see during a shoulder scope? Dr. Yokum puts the scope in from the posterior portal, low and behold he sees a caricature of Sean Marshall smiling face on the anterior capsule. He then puts in a Wissinger rod to create an anterior portal and whoa, is that a Tom Gorzellany autograph on his biceps tendon?

As we all remember from the Ted Lilly Chronicles...

Lilly was on the DL as of July 25th after experiencing left shoulder pain that was diagnosed as tendonitis and treated with 3 weeks of rest. In one of the stranger events of the season, he goes on the DL because of his shoulder but because he was going to have to rest his shoulder, he opted to have his knee scoped since it had been acting up for awhile from a torn meniscus. The original plan was for him to tough it out and get the knee scoped after the season but the doctors felt his shoulder pain was a cascade problem stemming from his knee, so the shoulder symptoms changed the gameplan. Lilly did have a shoulder MRI-Arthrogram in July (leading to the DL stint), which was reported to show tendonitis but no structural damage. He returned from the DL on Aug 17 against San Diego and pitched a healthy and strong 6 shutout innings only for the outing to be wasted in one of the more painful losses of the season, courtesy of Kevin Gregg's 4 run ninth inning stint ending with Kyle Blanks walk off HR.

In 2005 with Toronto, Lilly had several DL stints because of left biceps tendonitis which didn't require surgery. His shoulder didn't act up again until around the All-Star break (he was the lone Cub representative last season and didn't get into the game because that is when his shoulder started to ache).

In the media reports of what Dr. Yokum's procedure found and what he did, we see the terms debridement, washout and cleanup. That doesn't say much really except that some tissue was a bit worn and smoothed off. In this context debridement doesn't refer to removal of dead tissue (just worn tissue, so no maggots were needed) but specific anatomic structures like the biceps attachment to the glenoid/socket or biceps tendon as it enters the shoulder joint, the labrum (fibrous rim of the glenoid/socket) or the rotator cuff aren't specifically mentioned. When they say no structural damage was seen, it means none of the aforementioned items had enough damage to require reattachment. If his problem was biceps tendonitis or minor wear of the rotator cuff tendon (supraspinatus) they might have "cleaned up" these problems without feeling the need to repair or reattach anything. If he did have some signs of inflammation from friction outside the joint, often referred to impingement or bursitis, it's common to reshape the bone that rubs on the cuff (the acromion, which is a part of the shoulder blade/scapula). This is referred to as an acromionplasty and by flattening the front of that bone (it's common to have a curved shape in that area), it opens up the area that rubs on the cuff or biceps tendon where it enters the shoulder joint. Unfortunately, we're not told much from the media reports so I don't know if this was done. Clearly, this minimalist news is better news than getting reports that he had a capsular shift or tightening (Mark Prior), a labral repair (Angel Guzman, Kerry Wood) or a rotator cuff repair or even a biceps tenodesis which is a reattaching of the biceps tendon to the upper arm/humerus) and is done when the biceps is severely worn (Curt Schilling's situation which lead to controversy with doctors arguing whether he should have that surgery or not).

In the 6 months from November until late April, there is more than enough time to rehab and recover from a shoulder arthroscopic cleanup without any major structures needing repair, of course unless they didn't figure out why his shoulder was hurting or inflammed in the first place.

Ted Roosevelt Lilly a tough guy so I suspect he'll just do the return to sender thang, when pitching coach Larry Rothschild sends him the towel drill video. Ultimately we'll know if this surgery worked if it keeps his KNEE from acting up.

Cubs left-hander Lilly has shoulder surgery

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:49:23 -0500

Chicago Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly, who's been one of the team's most consistent starters the last three seasons, had surgery on his left shoulder and no timetable has been set for his return. The Cubs said the arthroscopy and debridement procedure performed Tuesday by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles revealed no major damage to Lilly's shoulder. Yocum performed a washout and clean-up of the shoulder during the one-hour surgery. Lilly, who was 12-9 with a 3.

Ted Lilly is Broken

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:03:33 -0500

As we know, Ted Lilly was battling through some shoulder issues through 2009 and still delivered a fantastic season with a 3.10 ERA. It didn't seem like it was too serious and something a little offseason rest may take care of, but instead he went under Dr. Andrews' knife.

Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly underwent a left shoulder arthroscopy and debridement on Tuesday by noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. During the surgery, Yocum found no major damage to Lilly's shoulder and the procedure consisted of a washout and clean up of the shoulder.

Hopefully Dr. Hecht can chime in later on this post with what the hell all that means, but he'll start motion and range exercises almost immediately and go back for an exam after January 1st to figure out a throwing timetable. Let's go to Bruce Miles for the kicker.

They say they're hopeful he can be in the rotation within the month of April.

This rarely ends well for our Cubbies, does it? On the other hand, if you're going to miss a month of baseball as a starter, April is the month to do it as a team can get away with four starters for a good part of the month. In the Cubs case, they don't need a 5th starter until April 19th at New York. But who knows if there will be complications or lingering problems...which is all a convoluted way of me saying the Cubs should probably offer Rich Harden arbitration or load up on some starting pitching depth before spring training.

Left Shoulder Surgery for Ted Lilly

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:33:16 -0500

According to a report from Paul Sullivan of the Tribune, Ted Lilly "underwent left shoulder arthroscopy on Tuesday". The Cubs announced Lilly had the surgery on Wednesday and said the southpaw "will be ready to return sometime in April."

Ted Lilly Gets Scoped

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:32:18 -0500

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP Ted Lilly had arthroscopic surgery today. He'll be ready ... in April? Browse more photos » Well, here's a bit of a surprise. Ted Lilly had shoulder surgery today, per Carrie Muskat's blog: Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly underwent a left shoulder arthroscopy and debridement on Tuesday by noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. During the s...

Another Good Ted Lilly Start Wasted; Cubs Lose 3-2 To Cardinals In Walkoff

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:00:58 -0500

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP You deserved better, Ted. Browse more photos » When Aaron Heilman came into the game in the bottom of the ninth, I thought, "Hmmm. He's actually thrown pretty well in his last few outings." Strange but true -- from August 12 through Thursday, Heilman had made 10 appearances covering 13 innings, with a 1.38 ERA and 11 strikeouts. And one of the reasons he...

A Good Day at the Office for Lee and Lilly - Cubs 4 Pirates 2

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:28:10 -0500

Game One Hundred Thirty-Six - Cubs 4 Pirates 2 WP - Ted Lilly (11-8) LP - Daniel McCutchen (0-1) Save - Carlos Marmol (10) Derrek Lee drove in three of the Cubs four runs with a pair of home runs, his second two homer game in the last three days ... and Ted Lilly took care of the rest. Lilly notched his team leading 11th win of the year with another quality start, the 83rd time this year the Cubs' starting staff completed at least six inning without allowing more than three earned ru...

Lilly to No Room for Error - Cubs 2 Astros 0

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:15:02 -0500

Game One Hundred Thirty-One - Cubs 2 Astros 0 WP - Ted Lilly (10-8) LP - Felipe Paulino (2-7) Save - Carlos Marmol (8) For the first time since the home opener back on April 13, Ted Lilly was on the right end of a shutout. Lilly combined with Carlos Marmol on the fourth shutout of the season for the Cubs pitching staff ... and the first since Randy Wells shutdown the Astros 12-0 on July 29. Lilly pitched a gem and won his first game since July 11. The Cubs 2-0 victory on Wednesday marked...

The Return Of Ted Lilly: Cubs vs. Padres, Monday 8/17, 9:05 CT

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:00:11 -0500

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP Write your own caption. (Is that Leslie Nielsen umpiring?) Browse more photos » In case you have not yet heard, Justin Berg has been returned to Iowa to make room for Ted Lilly's activation from the DL today. The Padres are the only outside-the-NL-Central team that the Cubs will have three series with this year. This will be the second trip for the Cubs to ...

The Return of the Lillyhammer

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:38:49 -0500

The Cubs enter the Pacific Time Zone, which coincides perfectly with California native Ted Lilly's return to the Cubs. The Padres might as well just save their energy and give the Cubs this win. To make room on the roster, the Cubs optioned their entire pitching staff to Iowa1, because they won't be needed anymore (I'm auditioning for the TLFC).

Sadly, not much else going on, the Cubs trail the Cardinals now by 5 games which is my personal benchmark for dismissing a team, at least this late in the season2. With only 3 games left between the two clubs, it's gonna take quite a streak by both clubs for the Cubs to make up that ground. The Wild Card is a little more attainable, trailing the Rockies by 3.5 games, but the Giants and Marlins are in the way and the Braves are tied with the Cubs.

I'll post lineups when they become available. Join the late-night fun in Parachat.

1 - Justin Berg was actually sent down.

2 - Other worthy reasons to dismiss a team: the presence of Dusty Baker, Neifi Perez or Aaron Miles, batting Corey Patterson lead-off, having Ron Coomer as your first basemen, wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform (list subject to change)...

The Ted Lilly Chronicles --The Knee Bone is connected to the Shoulder Bone

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:13:31 -0500

Bruce Levine reports Ted Lilly goes to the DL, righty reliever Justin Berg (acquired in the 2005 Matt Lawton trade from the Yankees) gets called up from Iowa. Lilly's MRI-Arthrogram apparently didn't show "any significant abnormalities" but as we've all seen what the media gets to report and what the radiologist and orthopods see isn't always identical.

Levine also says Lilly has agreed to a knee arthroscopy (scheduled for Monday) to clean up Lilly's meniscus, speculating that he can be back in 3 weeks if they do that now. Obviously, based on my experience, how long it takes to recover from a knee arthroscopy varies greatly and 3 weeks is certainly possible but continuing to push the envelope on these injuries is like playing with fire. This implies the medical staff thinks Lilly's shoulder injury is a cascade problem, meaning that his knee soreness lead to altered pitching mechanics that secondarily lead to the shoulder problem. I found evidence that they connected his knee and shoulder woes when his shoulder took the brunt of the blame in 2005.

From this mlb.com article on the Bluejays archive circa Spring 2006:

Last year, he said he had a tendency to have a "stiff" landing with his right leg, which put unnecessary strain on his throwing shoulder. Perhaps not coincidentally, Lilly sat out last spring with a shoulder injury.

I did some additional background research on Lilly's shoulder problems from 2005. Back then his diagnosis was biceps tendonitis and he missed most of spring training and started his season by coming off the DL 4/10/05 but had a rough April and worked through the problem until it flared up at the end of July 05, leading to a 2nd DL stint lasting 5 weeks. 2005 wasn't kind to Lilly producing a 10-11 record but Lilly is a tough guy and naturally he didn't make his injury an excuse.

"To put it very mildly, I'm disappointed in the way I've gone out there and competed," Lilly said Wednesday after his last start of the season. "I guess, coming into this year, I just expected us to be competitive in this league. And [I expected] myself to really make a push to help us do that."

To be fair, injuries played a large part in his inability to meet those goals. Lilly missed all of Spring Training with a case of shoulder tendinitis, and when he came back, he clearly wasn't ready to pitch in the big leagues.

So in the 2009 version of Ted Lilly, his shoulder tendonitis might just take 5 weeks if they don't push things and add the knee arthroscopic surgery to his recovery list. Getting Lilly back in September is just like trading for an All-Star for the pennant stretch (hitting my head in Rob G's door).

Chronology of the Ted Lilly 2005 biceps tendonitis after the fold...

Here's a chronology of Ted Lilly's 2005 shoulder problem ridden season:

Lilly chronicles I, report from spring training 2005:

Last year, Lilly spent most of Spring Training battling the effects of a sprained wrist. This year, he came to Dunedin with a sore shoulder and wasn't able to throw from the mound until last week. He still hasn't faced live batters, and he won't do that until Wednesday, when he pitches in a simulated game.

The decision was made and the opinion noted. Ted Lilly's last-minute appeal was denied on Monday when the Blue Jays announced their starting rotation for the first six games of the regular season.
Lilly, battling back from shoulder tendinitis, will be on the disabled list when the regular season begins. If all goes according to plan, he'll be activated to start the sixth game of the season. That means the earliest Lilly will debut is April 10, a full five days after he wanted to pitch.
"It makes perfect sense not to rush him, because he's got the whole year ahead of him," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "I know he wants to go that second day in Tampa Bay, but we decided this was better for him."

Lilly Chronicles II, early season 4/25/05:

Mailbag: Is Ted Lilly hurt? When will he start pitching up to his capabilities?
-- Jim B., New York

Lilly may be hiding a little bit of discomfort, but he's told the media that his shoulder is completely healed and that his early pitching returns have nothing to do with the tendinitis he dealt with for most of Spring Training. Assuming he's telling the truth, there are a few potential reasons for his struggles.

One is that he just tried to come back too quickly. Lilly wasn't able to pitch in any genuine exhibition games -- he was stuck working in simulated games and against Minor League opponents while his teammates were getting the legitimate Grapefruit League experience. In that respect, his first few starts of the season are actually his Spring Training. Lilly went through the same thing in 2004, and he didn't gain all his strength back until mid-May or early June.

No. 2 deals with his mental state of mind. Lilly may have all his stuff without being able to use it correctly. The southpaw likes to mix his pitches in random fashion and get the hitters thinking, a style of pitching that requires consistent mechanics and dead-solid precision. If he's off -- even by a few inches or a few decisions -- it can throw the rest of his game out of whack. If he's unable to find his rhythm, it doesn't really matter what kind of stuff he has that day.

The final theory is also the least exotic. Lilly may be perfectly fine, despite the fact that he hasn't pitched well. His only positive start was his debut, when he tamed the Boston bats largely on adrenaline. Since then, he's had two largely forgettable starts -- against Texas and New York, teams that boast two of the league's most potent offensive lineups. Lilly may not have been at his best, but those batters can make you look that way.

Lilly Chronicles III, before heading to the DL 7/26/05:

Ted Lilly could feel the pain in his pitching arm before his last start, but he willfully ignored it to take the mound. The southpaw explained his perspective on Tuesday, and he also confirmed his injury is a case of biceps tendinitis.

"The other day was a situation where I didn't want to press the panic button too early," said Lilly, who should miss at least one start. "Obviously, as a pitcher, you go through some times where you have some [discomfort] in your arm. There have been times where I didn't say anything, and then it's gone.

Lilly Chronicles IV, after a 10-11 season 9/29/05:

Lilly Chronicles V, a healthy Spring 2006:

Lilly in 2006, his last season in Toronto, didn't have any shoulder issues after resting the problem through the offseason. Here's his 2006 line:

2006: 181 IP, 15-13, 179H, 81BB, 160K, 1.43 WHIP, 4.31 ERA

but I did find this one mention in a spring 2006 article saying that his shoulder problems may have been related to having a stiff landing with his right leg... having implications that his knee/meniscus issues this year may hbe a cascade injury, particularly since tendonitis often develops over time rather than an abrupt event (hence knee problem leads to shoulder problem):

No Brotherly Love for Lilly - Cubs 1 Phillies 10

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:05:35 -0500

Game Ninety-One - Cubs 1 Phillies 10 WP - Rodrigo Lopez (2-0) LP - Ted Lilly (9-7) Save - Chad Durbin (1) A day after the Cubs lit up the scoreboard in the Nation's Capital they were brought down to earth by the defending World Series Champions. The Cubs four-game winning streak came to an embarrassing end as they were outplayed in just about every aspect of the game. One word could be used to describe Monday's loss in Philadelphia ... sloppy. Ted Lilly had one of his worst st...

Ted Lilly Hearts Chicago

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:35:16 -0500

Ted Lilly likes Chicago, likes playing for Lou and would like to play for a long time. That's what I learned from the Chicago Tribune this morning.Here's what he had to say about difficulty of playing for Piniella:"I think it can be, for some guys. Lou expects us to win, and I think he expects players to feel the same way, to want it as badly as he does. He might be a little mellower, but the fire and the passion to win are still there. I don't think that part of his personal...