Bless You Boys Tigers left fielder Andy Dirks is, reportedly, about to begin a rehab assignment that is designed to put him closer to rejoining the Tigers, perhaps sometime around the All-Star Break. The rehab is the culmination of his recovery from lower back surgery that he underwent in March. Dirks bat and glove are already being penciled into the Tigers lineup with zeal by fans who are begging for a left-handed hitting alternative in left field, despite the unexpected success of righty-swinging J.D. Martinez. It is assumed by the Tigers faithful that, once cleared after his rehab assignment, Andy Dirks will step into the lineup and start producing like nothing ever happened to him. Good luck with that. Aside from the usual worries, such as bat timing and getting ones sea legs under him, Dirks has a lower back injury from which he has been recovering. And backs dont always do what you want them to do. A back injury, as Redmond would attest, can be miserable, unyielding and enormously frustrating. You think youre clear — weeks and even months can go by without pain or discomfort. Then, one day, you cant get out of bed. This isnt to rain on anyones parade, but reality sometimes needs to slap some folks in the face, like that after shave commercial from back in the day. Dirks may be fine in his return to the Tigers next month, if all goes according to schedule. He may indeed pick up his career where it left off. That would be wonderful. But Dirks may also find it difficult to feel like himself on a day-to-day basis. He might walk gingerly into the Tigers clubhouse one day, then bound in with vim and vigor the next. The possible inconsistency in how he feels physically will certainly impact his performance on the field. Its a reality that fans must face, sooner rather than later. This isnt opinion. You dont necessarily get off the table from back surgery, start working out and everything is OK. Millions of Americans suffer from some sort of back pain, whether constant or intermittent. Maybe you, reading this, have a trick back. If so, you know what it can be like. One of our esteemed co-managing editors, Al Beaton, knows back surgery all too well. On a recent episode of The Knee Jerks podcast that Big Al co-hosts with me, I put it to him bluntly, because I know how much he has suffered with back pain, especially after surgery. Is it realistic to think that Andy Dirks will necessarily return from back surgery without a hitch? I asked him in so many words. Big Al said no, it wasnt. The hope here, of course, is that Dirks will return to his baseball career with normalcy and without any long-term effects from his back surgery. Thats first and foremost. Anything he is able to give the Tigers this season is secondary to that hope. But dont be too disappointed if, for the rest of the season, Dirks has to take occasional days off to rest his still-tender back. And dont be surprised if we dont see a true facsimile of the Dirks of old until 2015.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 22:52:37 +0000