Harden to come by in Oakland

April 14, 2008 @ 07:45:51

By David Wysocki
Edited by Richard Garcia

It was simply too good to be true. Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Rich Harden (shoulder) was placed on the 15-day disabled list April 10 after experiencing pain while playing catch. The situation is unfortunately all too familiar for the 26-year-old right-hander.

The diagnosis: A strain of the right subscapularis muscle, which originates from the underside of the shoulder blade and inserts at the front of the upper arm. Harden is eligible to return to action Friday, April 18, but a quick return doesn't seem imminent.

The subscapularis is a part of the rotator cuff muscle group, and an injury here usually results in a lot of inflammation. Treatment consists simply of massages, anti-inflammatory medication and rest. Recovery can last from three weeks to six months depending on whether the injury is chronic or not. At this point, it's too early to know if it is of the chronic variety, but A's manager Bob Geren has hinted that the club will play this very cautiously. Realistically, with both in mind, Harden could be out for a while, and it would not surprise anyone. There is a possibility that Harden will be able to rejoin the rotation by the end of the month, though.

Harden was simply unhittable in the first week of this season. In two starts, he pitched 11 innings, allowing just seven hits and one earned run. He did walk seven batters in that stretch, but his WHIP remained at a respectable 1.27 and his ERA was a solid 0.82. His 15 strikeouts gave some hope that he may finally be on his way to becoming one of the game's most dominant pitchers.

Injury woes

Harden's storied injury history rivals that of Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli and San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mark Prior. All three players have been considered some of the game's future stars, but all have had their issues with injuries during their short stints in the majors.

In five big-league seasons before 2008, Harden has thrown 100-plus innings twice, the last time in 2005, and has thrown 150-plus just once, in 2004. In the 2006 and 2007 seasons combined, Harden pitched in only 72 1/3 innings while he battled through shoulder, elbow and back injuries.

When he's in there, however, he is as good as they come. Harden boasts a career line of 32-18 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP; he has struck out nearly a batter an inning during that time. In 2007, while dealing with a stubborn shoulder strain, Harden managed to strikeout 27 batters in 25 2/3 innings. He held opponents to a .202 batting average against and held a respectable WHIP of 1.13 while splitting time between the rotation and the pen.

Possible fill-in

The injury really hurts the A's starting rotation, especially due to starting pitcher Justin Duchscherer (biceps) hitting the 15-day disabled list April 8. Pitcher Lenny DiNardo started in place of Harden on April 12 and picked up his first win of the season. He allowed two earned runs in five innings of work to lower his ERA to 6.75, picking up three strikeouts and not walking a batter.

In 2007, DiNardo started 20 games for the A's and went 8-10 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Opponents have hit for a .298 clip against the 28-year-old lefty over his career, and he has struck out just 115 in 218 innings.

With the injuries that Harden has endured, scouts have suggested that the A's should consider moving Harden to closer. Oakland general manager Billy Beane concedes that it's a logical move, but he believes that a starter who can get the job done once or twice a week is more valuable than a backend man. Harden has been opposed to the move in the past, but near the end of 2007, he hinted that he would be open to a change if injuries continued to be a problem.

Fantasy outlook

Harden's splits reveal an incredible consistency through the course of a season for his career. However, his career high in innings pitched is 189 2/3 innings in 2004. Since then, his innings have dropped perennially. Another shoulder injury is a scary thing for a pitcher as fragile as Harden seems to be, and fantasy owners who were thinking of dealing one of their pitchers for a bat because of Harden's "re-emergence" should reconsider.

Any pitcher going for the A's in 2008 already has a handicap. The A's simply do not look very good this year offensively; entering Monday, April 14, they were hitting just .239 as a team, good for second worst in the American League. The A's have been able to scrounge out 59 runs, which ranks them sixth in the AL, but this stat appears to be inflated considering their poor team average. The bottom line is that run support likely isn't going to be there for any starting pitcher.

Is Harden good enough to stash if he's battling injuries again? The answer right now is yes. If you have Harden, stash him in your DL spot, but watch his status closely. This could easily morph into one of those lingering issues that keep him out a couple of months, in which case you may end up having wasted a spot on your roster. However, Harden has shown how dominant of a pitcher he can be this season after being pain-free this spring. Talk of a change in roles is interesting from a fantasy standpoint; it's hard to imagine Harden not having success in that role. However, until the team indicates any plans to move Harden, it does little to affect his value. If he is able to return to his early season form, he could perform at the level he did in 2005 when he picked up 10 wins in 128 innings pitched.

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David Wysocki

David has been a KFFL writer since 2005. He is a San Diego native and a History and Geography student at California State University-Chico. He has a writing background and has appeared in, and helped produce, various local newsletters and magazines on sports and music. He also pitched for the No. 2 nationally ranked Rancho Buena Vista Longhorns his senior year of high school in 2002.

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