Placido Polanco HEALTH REPORTS

Vicodin makes me very very happy

Polanco could be back in Tiges' lineup Tuesday
by Danny Knobler
Monday April 21, 2008, 4:14 PM

TORONTO -- Jim Leyland said after today's game that Placido Polanco could be back in the Tigers' lineup as soon as Tuesday night.

"If he's all right, I'll play him,'' Leyland said.

The MRI exam on Polanco's back showed no major damage, and doctors in Detroit gave him medication to deal with the pain and stiffness.

"They said it's going to work right away, and he's going to feel real good,'' Leyland said.

Leyland also said that Joel Zumaya will throw off a bullpen mound in Lakeland, Fla., this week, which would put Zumaya about a week ahead of schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery.

Good news!

:placido:

Let's hope his BAT is healed up!!

I concurre with GoGetEm...I've had 2 back surgeries for bulging discs...NOT fun! It's ok if you have a percutaneous discectomy (minimally invasive).....but either way, you're still never 100%.

I hope Polly is going to be ok....just because they say they gave him meds doesn't mean he's out of the woods. I just he's ok. We need the same Polly playing that we had last year! Not to mention....surgery could mean the end of his career!

Get Well Soon Placido! I'm pulling for ya buddy!

Surgery
Get well soon, Placido!!!

Surgery is better than SOME things that can happen.....

true!

tigersaint wrote:

Surgery is better than SOME things that can happen.....

You got that right Saint.

05/03/2008 8:30 PM ET
Pain-free Polanco providing impact
Recovered from inflamed nerve, second baseman on tear
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the first time since Spring Training, Placido Polanco is playing without pain. For the first time this season, his numbers are reflecting it.

Detroit's second baseman and second hitter missed five games with an inflamed nerve in his back that affected him whenever he moved, whether at the plate or in the field. Since returning to action a week and a half ago, he's batting 13-for-34 through Friday with four doubles, two home runs, nine runs scored and five RBIs. That includes a 9-for-19 tear over a four-game hitting streak.

When the Tigers began the current week-long road trip to New York and Minnesota, manager Jim Leyland said he would play Polanco's situation by ear and check with him if he needed a day off this weekend. Saturday marked his ninth consecutive start since returning, and Leyland wasn't sure whether he'd need to rest Polanco on Sunday.

It's not a matter of fighting through the last of the inflammation. Polanco said Friday he felt completely fine.

"It's good," Polanco said. "It's the best that I've felt in a while, including Spring Training."

The understanding that Polanco reached with Leyland when he returned to action was that he would tell Leyland whenever he needed a day off. That put the onus on Polanco to be honest with how he was feeling. He tried to play through the back problems when the season began until the nerve was so inflamed that it left his left leg numb one night during the Tigers' series at Toronto.

Polanco explained the discomfort was much more manageable when it bothered him in the spring.

"We played for a month, and I had this since Spring Training," Polanco said. "It's just that the weather was helping me out [in Florida], and I didn't play the whole game, just the first five innings. I'd run every day."

At this point, there isn't much to manage. The inflammation is gone, and doctors told Polanco that once it was, there's no reason it should resurface.

The lack of inflammation affects everything Polanco does.

"Without a doubt," Polanco said. "The way I'm moving, right, left, running, mood-wise, everything [is better]."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

back from the land of Slump-dom!

but it was legit. Back pain SUX