Are the Angels risking Josh Hamilton’s longterm health?

Josh Hamilton‘s health should be a concern for the Los Angeles Angeles. If not only out of concern for Josh Hamilton as an individual then at the very least his health should concern the team, as he still has two years left on his enormous five-year $133 million contract.

I’ve personally been following Hamilton’s September saga here on Call to the Pen. First it was Hamilton simply leaving the Angels’ September 4 game with soreness in his shoulder.

He soreness however did not simply go away. As an outfielder, leaving a game due to soreness in one’s shoulder is not the same thing a a pitcher being removed from a start with a sore shoulder. It can be as serious but in overall percentages that outfielder is not going to need Tommy John surgery.

I am in no way insinuating that Hamilton needs Tommy John surgery but what I am getting at is the the progression of the injury. At first glance it’s easy to believe that the soreness could stem from overuse. It is one long season and it’s almost over, but then you have to remember that Hamilton has only played in 89 games in 2014 after injuring his thumb back in April.

This does not appear to be an injury of overuse and I don’t think that anyone truly knows what it really is. Hamilton’s symptons continued to get worse progressing from shoulder soreness to traveled into parts of his neck and back, this was after Hamilton had already missed 11 games, resting and rehabbing the shoulder. At this point even manager Mike Scioscia appeared to be concerned while speaking to the press.

“Guys play banged up when you’re in a pennant race, so for Josh to not play, you know he’s hurting. At first blush, it doesn’t look like it’s going in the right direction today.” – Mike Scioscia

Not too long after making this statement, Scioscia and the Angeles allowed Hamilton to practice and start in a game a week ago Tuesday. During that Monday’s first practice Hamilton began feeling discomfort and sharp pains near his chest and right rib cage and underneath his armpit, according to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez.

By last Tuesday, Hamilton’s symptoms had only worsened. Still he started in Tuesday’s game.

Hamilton later described the feeling, that continued during last Tuesday’s start,

"“As I played, as I ran, as I swung, it got worse and worse, to the point where it hurt to breathe. It just felt like my shoulder blade and everything was pretty locked up.”"

After being removed early from his only start in the Angels last 19 games, I reported that Hamilton was being shut down for the remainder of the season and the two issues could be related,

"“It certainly makes it appear that the sharp pains near his chest could be related to whatever was causing the pain in this shoulder since he relates the pain to his shoulder blade locking up.”"

Scioscia reported that it was his opinion that the two incidents appeared to be separte incidents.

"“I consider it something new. Hopefully it’s a minor blip,” he said."

To me this is a seems to be a stretch. Where are any reported opinions from a single physician? We know he must have seen one having had trigger point injections and a cortisone shot after his shoulder hurt him initially.

What personally concerns me is the chest pains and that the chest pains worsened after practicing and subsequently playing. Wouldn’t the chest pains and shortness of breath concern you, especially considering their obvious relationship with the initial injury? The injury appears to be worsening.

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Is another week or so of rest prior to the American League Division Series really going to help Hamilton’s issues after having 10 days of rest helped him to start in one game?

Isn’t anyone concerned about the 33-year-old’s overall health besides myself? I am not a fan of the Angels in the slightest however even I can see the connection. That this speculation comes from a 33-year-old reporter who has no medical training is true, I don’t. Yet no one seems to be concerned which I find to be bizzare.

The only thing the Angels, Hamilton (who hasn’t played nor engaged in a workout with the team in over a week) and Scioscia happen to be worried about is a lack of at-bats affecting him in the postseason.

"“There’s no sense in me coming back and having the issue,” Hamilton told reporters Tuesday. “I can just use the extra days and then play. I know you guys think, ‘Well, he hasn’t had any at-bats, how’s he going to feel, blah blah blah.’ It doesn’t really matter.”“We’ll see what we’re presented with and where we are before making a decision,” Scioscia said. “Ideally, we would like to get him some at-bats. But it’s not like spring training, where he’s been down for four or five months.”"

What if what ends up affecting Hamilton in the postseason is not a lack of at-bats? What if the Angels are jeopardizing Josh Hamilton’s longterm health? What if he ends up being seriously injured in some way?

Of course as previously stated, I am no doctor. It’s just that with such long rest and the problem only having to have seemingly gotten worse, I would be more concerned than the Angels or Josh Hamilton seem to be.

All we know right now is that time will tell and I can only hope that I am not the one who ends up right.