NEWSLETTER
When I think of a guy being described as hitting a plateau in his recovery from an injury, I usually think of that being a bad sign. Like there was some kind of crest the recovery was SUPPOSED to get to, but instead it just stopped somewhere along the way and flatlined.
And that pretty much is what it means. But I think I have to recalibrate just how negative that actually is, because I guess doesn’t always mean there is affirmatively bad news on the way. Consider how Craig Counsell talked about Ian Happ’s hamstring injury:
So, the recovery plateaued, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be in a game again as soon as today. It also doesn’t mean he’ll miss Opening Day. This isn’t a re-injury or setback or freak out situation.
In other words, sometimes a plateau is just a moment where the progress isn’t continuing at the rate it was, so you take a step back to intentionally flatline things, so to speak. Don’t play in games for a few days. See if you can take care of whatever negative feeling or issue in there that is lingering and preventing the final progress. Maybe that’s just a positive way of couching things, but if Opening Day is not in jeopardy, then this doesn’t just feel like spin.
You wonder if, even though Opening Day is not at risk, Happ might open the season doing a little time at DH? The Cubs have the relatively easy ability to put Mike Tauchman in left field without losing too much in the way of defense (or Alexander Canario if he makes the Opening Day roster). Heck, we know the Cubs played Seiya Suzuki in left field a bit this spring just in case they prefer him to cover that spot at times. So there are plenty of options here if you feel like Happ is in a good place to still provide impact with the bat.
