Will Alex Kirilloff Ever Truly Recover?

[roger]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I just can't blame the FO for this.....Larnach, Kiriloff, Lewis, Kepler all hurt at the same time. Plus Garlick may now be hurt. It's hard to see how any team could lose their 2-5th best OFers at the same time and have a good OF during that time. Luckily, Gordon is actually have a decent year. And Celestino just isn't quite ready (is he hurt, I've lost count). 

Celestino replaced Urshela on the paternity list.  Assume he will be back in a day or two.  Will be interesting who goes to the Saints when he is.  Seems Cave prefers a big league check and is playing like he wants to stay.

[SGL]

It is really really difficult to build strength in a wrist.  He may never attain the kind of stardom the team anticipated when he was drafted.  At this point they might be better off trading him especially if they can get a good return.

[KirbyHawk75]

It just seems like for years it takes a long time for Twins players to heal.  I am sure that is every team but I don't pay attention.   

[Richie the Rally Goat]

8 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Got it. Act of God. Nobody has responsibility for multi-million dollar assets. Sometimes things just don't work. What can you do?Somehow, I just don't think that perspective flies in big business.

 

AK isn’t a machine that can be taken down for PMs and just “fixed”. He’s a human being. Medical science has advanced in ways that I don’t understand, but humanity’s understanding of the human body isn’t exhaustive. 40% of doctors and surgeons get sued for medical malpractice at some point in their careers.

when my team develops capital projects for New Product Introduction, the machines are typically not built “bullet proof” as much as we build them with redundancy. Fixing a machine when it goes down takes critical time, so asset functionality are qualified in duplicity. Even machines that can be “fixed” need to have a plan B.

[D.C Twins]

This wrist is a complex and delicate joint. As mentioned in a string early this year or last, his wrist is definitely a threat to his entire career. 

Scar tissue sporadically breaking up and causing acute inflammation and pain would be the best explanation because that should become less frequent and severe over time.

Fingers crossed but worried

[Tiantwindup]

18 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I'm not saying the Twins always have to get it right, but they've got a multi-million dollar asset and they've failed to diagnose the problem with it. It doesn't really matter who's fault it is specifically, but it's basically either Alex Kirilloff's or the organization's, isn't it?

To say that someone has to be at fault is overly simplistic. Some medical problems cannot be easily diagnosed or solved. Too many arm chair doctors here trying to come up with a way to assign blame.  Unless someone is a physician with Kiriloff’s detailed medical records and orthopedic or related experience it’s just blowing smoke.

[wabene]

This is just too damn bad for Alex. He had wrist issues in the minors. Growing up the son of a hitting coach the guy has swing the bat millions of times. Hopefully this isn't a cronic issue wreaking his career. With the money involved here, because sadly in the US healthcare is gonna cost ya, I'm sure he'll get multiple opinions. I had a bad high ankle sprain once and it mostly healed in a few months. It did not feel right for a year. Here's hoping he can get right by next year. 

Blame game? I'll pass. 

[bighat]

22 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I wish him luck. But I'm getting nervous about his health. The Kubel comparison is very apt. 

If Kirilloff finishes his career with the same numbers as Jason Kublel, I'd consider that a huge accomplishment. 

Let's hope AK gets healthy or his numbers will end up looking similar to those of Chris Parmalee's career. 

[Trov]

I am greatly concerned with his wrist, being that our only reports are that no additional surgery will be helpful.  I was hopeful when he came back and was hitting the ball hard he had learned to play through it, but looks like might be something to haunt him rest of career. 

[Minny505]

I don't have any first hand medical experience, but I am married to one with nearly two decades of practitioner experience.

It is not unusual for medical practitioners, once inside, to find issues that were not apparent thru any imaging. Imaging is very good, but not perfect.

Now, the wrist, from what I understand, is actually one area where imaging clarity is highest, but even there, it is not perfect.

It really sounds like something is still causing problems and it is likely fixable, perhaps a bone is not twisting correctly in a joint with certain movements, causing rubbing with another bone, something like that. It may be undetectable unless clearly imaged at the exact moment in his swing that he feels it, which is impossible with even the most advanced tech available that I know of.

If it does not improve, Kirilloff really has nothing to lose by having exploratory surgery. His career is over unless it can be "permanently" improved.

[insagt1]

The wrist is totally vital to a ballplayer. Swinging a bat against 100mph pitches requires strong wrists. (I think of Hank Aaron--hitting all those HR's with those strong wrists always comes to mind)

Kirilloff, like Buxton, just seems to be fragile where it counts. Alex may never be right again. And Buxton will never have an injury free season apparently.  He is always hurt and it is slowly robbing him of all his tools. His body just keeps betraying him. It can't compensate for the way he needs to play. Looking more like Alex probably needs to shut it down and do what is needed to try and salvage his career for 2023.

[h2oface]

Don't forget the Tommy John year+ for Kirilloff.

Quite a long history of top prospects not being able to stay on the field.

https://theathletic.com/3340279/2022/05/31/twins-top-prospects-injuries/

Snakebit again. Alex needs some luck, here.

It isn't his heart, but glass comes to mind. 

 

[ashbury]

44 minutes ago, h2oface said:

It isn't his heart, but glass comes to mind. 

 

Once we had a prospect, and it was a gas
Soon turned out, he had a wrist of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, power's gone behind

 

[jkcarew]

Maybe give him a cortisone shot before 30 games with the Twins instead of before 30 games with the Saints?

I’m an AK skeptic. Walk rates as low as his are extremely problematic. And it’s a carry-over issue from the minors. It’s not like his K rate is going to be extraordinarily low…and that means he has to have an elite BABIP or elite SLG (or elite BABiP/SLG combo) to be good. He pulled that off in the minors…including this year in St. Paul with his wrist. Big ask in the majors.