Just when Steven Brault was guaranteed to open the season in the Pirates starting rotation, he won't be able to open the season.
Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk says that Brault has a moderate strait of the Latissimus Dorsi (or lat muscle) and will pause throwing for one month and then will reassess throwing at that time.
"From our perspective from our physicians and others who have viewed the images is that at this moment (the injury) is non-surgical," Tomczyk says, "Typically, these do not require surgery so this is a rest and a rehab, but a significant amount of rest and rehab.
Even if that rest and rehabilitation plan goes well, Tomczyk estimates that Brault wouldn't be ready to pitch for quite some time. "Realistically, we're probably looking at ten weeks at best to build up a starters workload," Tomczyk says.
Tomczyk also announced that reliever Blake Cederlind did opt for UCL (Tommy John) surgery Tuesday which require a 14-16 month recovery.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Neil El Attrache..
Tomczyk says that veteran Todd Frazier, who has been dealing with a back strain, is starting to take some swings in the batting cage.
