Lowry says he started throwing too soon

03/06/2008 9:45 PM ET
Lowry to have surgery on left arm
Giants starter expected to be out two to three weeks
By Chris Haft / MLB.com

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Giants left-hander Noah Lowry will undergo surgery Friday in San Francisco to relieve a condition in his throwing arm, which will sideline him for two to three weeks.

Lowry, 27, was diagnosed with exertional compartmental syndrome in his forearm. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Lowry could resume throwing in two to three weeks and might not rejoin the starting rotation until late April, although an official prognosis won't be issued until after the surgery.

The Mayo Clinic's Web site described exertional compartmental syndrome as "an exercise-induced neuromuscular condition that causes pain, swelling and sometimes even disability in affected muscles of the legs or arms. The condition can occur in both beginning and seasoned athletes in sports that involve repetitive movements."

In layman's terms, throwing causes compression in Lowry's forearm compartment, resulting in a pressure buildup that squeezes a nerve which weakens Lowry's hand. Dr. Gordon Brody will perform Lowry's surgery, which is expected to be a mild procedure, by making a small incision and releasing the fascia -- akin to slicing a sausage casing -- around the forearm muscles.

Before returning to the Bay Area on Tuesday for two days of tests, Lowry complained of fatigue in the area between his left thumb and wrist, which robbed him of his ability to control pitches. In two exhibition appearances, the Giants' projected No. 3 starter walked 12 of the 23 batters he faced, threw five pitches to the backstop on the fly and posted a 23.14 ERA.

"It's not like this is a common occurrence in baseball players," Bochy said of Lowry's injury. Indeed, the Giants medical staff researched exertional compartmental syndrome and could not find any Major Leaguers who endured the malady.

Lowry was the Giants' leading winner in two of the last three years -- including 2007, when he missed the final month of the season with forearm tightness. Lowry dedicated his offseason to strengthening his forearm and shoulder and resumed throwing, but he experienced discomfort in his arm shortly after reporting to Spring Training. Lowry believed he could pitch through the sensation, but his performance against Texas on Monday, when he walked nine of 12 hitters, prompted him to seek medical help.

Lowry's injury alters the competition in the Giants' starting rotation.

"It's a blow," right-handed reliever Vinnie Chulk said. "We didn't expect Noah to be down. But that might give these guys who are battling for a starting position something to be hungry for."

Kevin Correia, previously competing for the rotation's No. 5 spot with Jonathan Sanchez, almost certainly will secure a starting job. Correia owns a 9.00 ERA in two Cactus League appearances, but he pitched three scoreless innings in his last outing.

Sanchez, sporting an 18.00 ERA in two games, has been inconsistent. He might have to fend off left-hander Patrick Misch and right-hander Victor Santos, a non-roster invitee, for the fifth starter role.

Misch has pitched only four innings in three games and owns a 2.25 ERA, but Bochy said the 26-year-old will receive the opportunity to work multiple innings.

"Obviously you don't want a great pitcher like Noah to go down. But for the time being, I'd love to have the opportunity to start," said Misch, who was 0-4 with a 4.24 ERA in 18 games (four starts) with the Giants last year.

Santos, an 11-game winner for Milwaukee in 2004, has pitched twice in the Cactus League and has a 6.75 ERA.

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

Lowry says he started throwing too soon

(05-03) 04:00 PDT Philadelphia --

Nearly two months after surgery to relieve pressure on the nerves in his left arm, the tingling and hand fatigue that led Noah Lowry to the operating room in March have returned, and he now questions whether he should have begun throwing two weeks after the procedure.

"We probably tried to do things a little too fast," said Lowry, who has stopped throwing indefinitely. "I want to make sure I'm 100 percent before I pick up a baseball. I don't want to cost myself another six weeks."

Lowry said the entire ordeal "doesn't make sense to me" and conceded he could miss the entire first half of the season.

The 27-year-old left-hander revealed Friday that when he began playing catch after the surgery he still had some pins-and-needles tingling in the arm, "but the doctor told me just to keep going, that it would go away on its own. Then the fatigue in my hand started coming back. That took me back to square one."

That doctor was Gordon Brody, the Giants' hand specialist who performed the surgery. Lowry did not criticize Brody, but said it was "frustrating" to hear one doctor say, "OK, start throwing at two weeks," only to get a second opinion last week from another specialist who told Lowry nerves can take six weeks or longer to heal after surgery.

"I'm reaching right now for answers," said Lowry, whose next step is a trip to Alabama on Monday to see Dr. James Andrews. Lowry wants the noted orthopedist to examine the arm and refer him to another specialist.

"It's time to see the best," Lowry said.

When head trainer Dave Groeschner was asked Friday if Lowry's progress was set back by throwing, he said, "I guess you'd have to say yes because he can't throw anymore."

Groeschner said the assumption after surgery was that Lowry would begin throwing in two weeks, "and if everything felt good he would keep going. The problem was, the nerves haven't responded. They're more banged up than we originally thought. ... But the only way to really know that was to go out there and do some things."

Vizquel playing: Omar Vizquel has taken a significant step forward in his extended rehab from knee surgery. Groeschner said Vizquel played two innings Thursday and four more Friday in extended-spring games in Arizona. On Friday, he scored from second on a double.

Groeschner talked to Vizquel and said "he's upbeat, sounds good and wants to keep playing."

If all goes well, Vizquel will begin playing at Triple-A Fresno on Sunday, with no timetable for his return to the majors. Besides ensuring that the knee is sound, Vizquel must condition himself to play every day.