Glavine Needs Two More Weeks

And then he gets evaluated all over again...

Carroll Rogers from the AJC has your first round of almost-answers...

The idea being, initially, that if rehab is too long or strenuous his career is probably over.

The diagnosis for Tom Glavine on Tuesday was that he has a strained rotator cuff and needs to take two weeks to rest before having another evaluation. As to what that really means for the 305-game winner and his future, that’s still fairly nebulous.

Glavine knew that if his surgeon Dr. James Andrews saw a tear in his rotator cuff on the MRI, the decision would be cut and dried: consider retirement. Since it wasn’t, Glavine, 43, is still in a holding pattern.

If he had to characterize how he was looking at things Tuesday afternoon, he said it was a glass half-empty.

“Right now, for me, the glass is probably half-empty, simply because I’m frustrated and tired with this whole rehab thing,” said Glavine, who was set to make his debut Saturday in Pittsburgh before he suffered this setback. “But at the same time, being as close as I am — or was — I’m not willing to just say ‘OK that’s it.’ I’m willing to put in a little bit more time.”

There’s a limit to that though. Glavine ((pictured, thanks allaroundphilly.com)) said if he’s not convinced in two weeks that he’s seeing improvement in his pain level or the strength in his shoulder, he’ll consider hanging it up.

“I’ll need to figure out how much more I want to go through with it,” he said.

If there’s no improvement, he likely would be looking at four to six more weeks of rest and rehabilitation and then he would have to start his pitching regimen over again. That would mean it could be after the All-Star break before he’s pitching.

“I’m not interested in a season-long rehab or ‘Let’s try this for a month or two,’ ” Glavine said. “I did that last year. I don’t want to do it myself, and I don’t want to do it to this team. It’s not fair to them.”

Glavine had signed a one-year contract in February to attempt a comeback from elbow and shoulder surgery. It was for $1 million guaranteed plus another $3.5 million in bonus money based on the length of time he’s on the active roster.

He had worked up to six innings and was pitching the final start of his minor-league rehabilitation when he felt pain in his shoulder swinging during his second at-bat in Class AA Mississippi on Sunday.

Glavine said he felt the same pain swinging some during spring training but that went away quickly. This time the pain lingered.

If this proves the end of the road, Glavine said he’s prepared.

“This thing has logged a lot of innings,” he said of his shoulder. “Sooner or later it’s going to tell me I can’t do this anymore. I hope this isn’t what it’s trying to tell me, but I’m prepared if it is.”