FanHouse Noah Lowry

As Fletch reported yesterday, Noah Lowry's agent contends that the Giants misdiagnosed Lowry's arm issues, put him under the knife for the wrong surgery, assigned him the wrong rehab program, and jeopardized his career. The Giants are denying this. From Calvin and Hobbes, November 18, 1990:

CALVIN. Your foot hurts? What kind of stupid problem is that?
SUSIE. You're the doctor! You're supposed to find out what's wrong with it.
CALVIN. It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw.

This morning's Dugout is after the jump.

Noah Lowry, once one of the more promising young pitchers in the majors, had surgery on Tuesday to correct a circulatory problem that his agent claims the Giants misdiagnosed 14 months ago.

General manager Brian Sabean did not immediately return a call to FanHouse, but the Giants issued a statement denying any wrongdoing or negligence.

The surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition that afflicted Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman, likely means the end of Lowry's tenure with the Giants.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday.

Can you feel it? Spring is in the air. Real, actual baseball games were played Wednesday in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. The arrival of baseball games is mostly pleasant for fans, even if the contests mean nothing and their favorite players end up doing wind-sprints in the outfield by the fourth inning. But it can also bring a bit of anxiety.

Winter is mostly gloomy with the next nine innings so far away, but it is also a time for boundless optimism. Squint hard enough between the leafless trees and falling snow and you can almost see Carl Pavano pitching 200 innings. Maybe that's why Spring Training can cause a little panic -- all it takes is one bad start to shatter the wildly optimistic construct of the 2009 season we've spent all winter putting together in our heads.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

The Giants were not a disappointment in 2008 as far as I'm concerned, because they only lost 90 games and did not finish in last place. Going into the season, in looking at the rosters, Giants fans had to expect 100 losses and a definite last place finish. Moving forward, there is hope for a quick franchise turnaround.

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and even the injury-prone Noah Lowry have the makings of a quality young starting rotation. They could be above average with offensive support and an improved defense. Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand can be helpful players on a good team, but they cannot be the centerpieces of the offense, as they were this past season. Randy Winn and Fred Lewis are viable starters for '09, but they need to be slotted at the end of the batting order.

The key to the approach for 2009 is to try and compete without foregoing the future. The rotation, closer Brian Wilson, and potential stars like Madison Bumgarner, Conor Gillespie, and Buster Posey are too valuable to deal in a trade just to land one player.

On Monday, Noah Lowry looked more like Rick Ankiel on the mound than a guy who led the Giants in wins last year. The next day he blamed the performance on tendinitis in his wrist, but it turns out it's a bit more serious. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, doctors eventually diagnosed his ailment as "exertional compartment syndrome," and he underwent surgery for it today.

Never heard of it? It's because it's difficult to diagnose, and the Giants think Lowry is the first MLB player with a recorded case. Basically, the casing that surrounds the muscles in his forearm is too tight, which causes the muscles to squeeze a nerve and cause a loss of feeling in his hand.

The operation to fix it simply cuts open that casing, and if all goes well he could be back in a few weeks ... probably ... maybe. Like I said, he's probably the first player to be diagnosed with the problem, so he's also the first player to have surgery to fix it, meaning we've never seen exactly how long it takes a player to recover.

But the good news is that the Giants think this might be what ailed Lowry late in the year last season when he got bombed in his last three starts of August before missing the final month of the season with forearm tightness. He had a 3.28 ERA as late as August 13 before finishing at 3.92 for the year. If he reverts to the form that he was in for the majority of last year, he should be one of the NL's top pitchers in 2008.

Yesterday I wrote a post about San Francisco Giants pitcher Noah Lowry's rough start to his spring training. A start that's included numerous wild pitches, a lot of walks, an errant pick-off throw that landed in the stands, and probably a few deaths somewhere in between.

Now when these types of things happen to a pitcher, a blogger can go one of two ways. He can compare the pitcher to Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn of Major League fame, or he can go the Rick Ankiel route. I chose the Ankiel route, and I wasn't the only one either, as it was a pretty obvious comparison.

Well, Noah didn't like it very much.

Lowry did not appear relieved when he met with reporters. Instead, he was rankled by media speculation that he might be suffering from the same unexplained wildness that shortened the pitching careers of Steve Blass and Rick Ankiel.

Lowry felt the reports questioned his mental toughness and character - values that he prides himself upon.

"The Ankiel stuff - that's asinine and a slap in the face for anybody that does know me," said Lowry, who declined to be interviewed after his start Monday. "Mentally, I feel I've been able to deal with anything."

Noah then took his ball and glove and went home.

As it turns out, Lowry has tendinitis in his wrist which kept him from getting a good grip on the ball during his outing on Monday, and led to all those fastballs flying all over the place. Of course, maybe if Lowry had taken the time to talk to the media after the game, or even inform his coaches about the wrist injury, none of this would have happened.

The San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox are continuing to talk about a possible trade that would send Joe Crede from Chicago to the bay, a deal we already know Aaron Rowand is fighting for. One of the players the White Sox were looking at to get in return for Crede is Giants starter, Noah Lowry.

The Sox even had scouts in attendance for Lowry's start yesterday against the Texas Rangers. After seeing Lowry's performance, I think it's safe to say the White Sox may be taking him off their wish list.

In less than two innings of work, Lowry walked seven batters. Seven. As if that wasn't bad enough, he also managed to throw two wild pitches in the first inning, and sent a pick-off throw into the stands during the second inning before Bruce Bochy mercifully pulled him from the game.

It's Lowry's second straight horrible performance of the spring. In his first start against the Cubs, he lasted only an inning and a third, walked three hitters, hit another, and threw two fastballs to the backstop.

Needless to say, neither Lowry or the Giants coaches have any explanation for what's going on, much like the Cardinals never could figure out what went wrong with Rick Ankiel. Combine Lowry's performance with Barry Zito getting rocked for 8 runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Athletics, and the Giants can't be very confident in their starting rotation right now.

On the bright side, if they wait a few years and give Lowry some HGH, they'll finally have a replacement for Barry Bonds in left field.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Arizona Diamondbacks (54-48) vs. Florida Marlins (48-53)-9:40PM Est.

I don't know about you, but I'm trying to figure out how in the hell Scott Olsen is being allowed to make a start for the Marlins tonight. It's one thing when you're getting into fights with your teammates and opponents, that's the heat of battle. When you're driving drunk and kicking cops before being treated to a taser? That's not exactly the behavior of a normal human being. Yet for some reason baseball hasn't taken any action against the guy. I mean, if you accidentally brush up against an umpire you're sitting a game, or if you argue a call a little to loudly you'll be sitting a game. Get drunk and get beat up by cops? Eh, not a big deal. Maybe if the Marlins were atop the NL East I could understand their reasoning, whether I agreed with it or not, but they have no excuse for this. I don't normally do this, but I hope the Diamondbacks beat Olsen as bad tonight as those police officers did. Wouldn't mind seeing a line drive off of his shin either.

A few days ago I told you that Captain Cranium suspected Barry Zito's struggles this year had to do with the lucrative contract he signed in the off-season. Regardless of the reason, there's no debate that the $126 million man has been the weak link in the impressive Giants rotation this year. So much so, that the Giants have decided to pitch him fifth in the rotation when they return from the All-Star break on Friday.

Considering Zito pitches today and would have his usual four days rest before the Giants play their first game of the second half of the season, there's no other way to view this other than as a demotion. I'm not buying Cranium's excuse that he's trying to give all his starters equal rest. True, that is what will wind up happening. But most teams would prefer to get their rotation lined up for the second half of the season with their no. 1 guy pitching first as long as they can help it. Now the Giants' rotation will go Matt Cain, Matt Morris, Noah Lowry, Tim Lincecum, and then Zito.

I have mixed feeling on the subject; the extra rest will be beneficial for Barry, but the demotion has to be a blow to his confidence. Considering the Giants are so far out of the race, I would've just given Zito an extra day's rest and pitched him on Saturday, second in the rotation. There's no sense in alienating a man who will be on the team for the next six and a half years. It will be interesting to see how he responds in the second half of the year.

Previously at FanHouse:
Money Is a Thang for Barry Zito

And when I say hot, I'm referring to the interest he will spark in other teams you pervs. There are a lot of clubs out there who would be interested in adding an additional starter to their rotation come the trade deadline, and Matt Morris is a guy who would be an excellent addition. Ken Rosenthal believes the Giants would be willing to deal Morris for the right price:

If the White Sox sign left-hander Mark Buehrle, Giants right-hander Matt Morris could become the most attractive starting pitcher on the trade market. Morris' 3.25 ERA is the best ERA among the Giants' starters - an impressive feat, considering the quality of the team's rotation.

The Giants will listen to offers for Morris, but their price almost certainly will be high; Morris, who turns 33 on Aug. 9, sets a veteran example for the Giants' younger starters, and his $9.5 million salary through 2008 is reasonable for a pitcher of his caliber. The Giants almost certainly will want young position players in return . . .

Matter of fact, when a friend told me his team needed pitching but wondered who was available, Morris was the first name out of my mouth. His availability on the market also shows how good the Giants rotation is, which means the rest of their team (e.g. hitting and bullpen) has to be so awful that it has resulted in this squad being in last place. Even without Morris they would still have Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, and Noah Lowry. I have to think they'd be able to get along just fine without Morris, and that they would deal him for the right package in return.