Consigning John Patterson to the trash heap might be a little premature. First of all, is he really ?injury prone?? Certainly he has had injuries, as most players do, but in 9 years in pro baseball prior to this season, he has had 2 major injuries and 2 minor ones. I have researched his career about as thoroughly as one can using just the Internet, and I found one injury (a back problem, I believe) that kept him from pitching in a minor league all-star game in 1998; Tommy John surgery in May, 2000 - major injury - he did not pitch again until May 2001 and spent the rest of that year rehabbing in A, AA, and AAA; in April 2004 with the Expos, his back foot slipped on the mound in San Diego, he tore his right groin muscle and was out for 2 ? months - major injury; in May, 2005, while being given injections in treatment for back spasms, he became faint and nauseated and was given oxygen and an IV was put in his RIGHT wrist, causing the wrist to become numb. He was then put on the 15 day DL, retroactive to his last start, came off on schedule, and that was his only injury in 2005. Does this add up to ?injury prone?? Possibly, but compare this to Nick Johnson. ?The 2006 season marks the first time since 1999 that Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson hasn?t been placed on the disabled list, and he is having one of his better seasons with the bat...? There are plenty of players who have a worse injury history than Patterson and their teams are not talking of ?dumping? them.
As far as being unreliable, only the 2 major injuries have kept Patterson from progressing each year as he climbed the ladder from the minors to the major leagues. In 1997, with South Bend - low A - he appeared in 18 games and pitched 78 innings; 1998 High Desert - high A, 25 games and 127 innings; 1999 he started with El Paso - AA, and was promoted to Tucson - AAA- 25 games and 130 innings. In between El Paso and Tucson he pitched in the Pan American Games, registering 1 win and 1 no decision, and after the season, pitched in the Arizona Fall League; In 2000 and 2001 he was sidetracked by Tommy John surgery and only pitched 20 games and 92 innings; 2002 he started the season in Tucson, and was brought up to pitch for the Diamondbacks in July when Rick Helling was on the DL. His first appearance was a solid start for which he received a no decision, his first major league win came on July 24, against San Diego, then Helling returned from the DL and he was sent back to Tucson, but was called up again in September. His totals for that season, 26 games, 142 innings pitched; 2003 was spent see-sawing between Tucson and the D-backs, 34 games 164 innings pitched; 2004 he was traded to the Expos and, due to the groin injury, pitched 19 games and 98 innings. He also played winter ball; 2005, 31 games started, 198 innings pitched. If you look at the stats, you will see that he pitched much better than his 9 - 7 record would indicate. He had 15 no decisions in 31 starts and he - not the presumed ace Livan Hernandez - was the Nats most consistent starter during most of the season.
As for this year, some of you seem to blame Patterson because he has had only 8 starts this season. His arm has hurt ever since the end of spring training - yes, even during the 4 starts he made before going on the DL and the 4 starts he made after coming off the DL. He has played with pain all season, hoping that he could pitch through it. If anyone should be blamed for this fiasco, it is the Nationals medical staff who mis-diagnosed the injury from the very beginning, stating that it was a muscle problem and surgery was not required - rest was the answer. Had the tests been given and the correct diagnosis made in April, he could have been 100% early in June and the story for the Nationals and John Patterson might have been very different by now.
We live in a ?throw away? society, and when something doesn?t work, we throw it out and get another. However, I think it would be foolish indeed to throw away John Patterson?s great talent without ever giving him a real chance.
