Plantar fasciitis sidelined Jonathan India last summer, and the injury is still impacting the Reds infielder’s availability as Spring Training begins. Manager David Bell told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith and other reporters that India isn’t slated to appear in a game until March 7 or 8, as India’s plantar fasciitis tore during the offseason and is still causing him some discomfort. On the plus side, the tear means that India won’t need to undergo surgery on his foot, and Bell said that India is still able to take part in baseball activity as he builds up to being game-ready.
Health is just one of many uncertainties hanging over India as he begins his fourth Major League season. Already the subject of frequent trade rumors due to Cincinnati’s plethora of up-and-coming infield talent, India looks to be moving into a utility role if he remains with the Reds, as he could be playing all over the infield, at DH, and perhaps in left field.
Other items from around the NL Central…
- Aaron Ashby is eager to be back after missing virtually all of the 2023 season due to arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder. Describing the procedure to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ashby said “I essentially had some calcified muscle on my rotator cuff, and they went in there and clipped it right off. Once I got out of surgery the doctor was like, ’This was best-case scenario for you.’ It’s a minimal surgery in terms of what they did, but a shoulder surgery is a shoulder surgery, and it’s tricky at times.” The southpaw’s only game action in 2023 was seven innings of minor-league rehab work in September, but he has been making good progress in Spring Training and is hoping to win a spot in the Brewers rotation, though Rosiak notes that bullpen work could help ease Ashby back into regular activity.
- Carlos Santana had interest in returning to the Pirates as a free agent this winter, with Santana telling Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he expressed this to the team when he was traded to the Brewers prior to last summer’s trade deadline. The Bucs still had some interest during the offseason even after signing Rowdy Tellez to ostensibly fill the void at first base, but Santana didn’t know why an agreement wasn’t reached. “My agent has a very good relationship with the team, but he didn’t tell me anything. I wanted to come back, but there was nothing going on,” the first baseman said. Santana instead joined the Twins on a one-year, $5.25MM deal, and the Pirates will head into 2024 with Tellez and Connor Joe as the first base platoon and Andrew McCutchen returning as the primary DH.
- This could be something of a tough read for Pirates fans, but The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt and Ken Rosenthal details some of the missteps that have slowed the team’s rebuild, such as a lack of success in international signings and some instances of a disconnect between traditional baseball teachings and the more modern approach of GM Ben Cherington. However, the largest issue is naturally the team’s lack of spending under owner Bob Nutting, as there is less margin for error for Cherington’s front office when operating within a tight budget. Nesbitt and Rosenthal’s piece was published a day before the Pirates announced a five-year, $77MM extension with Mitch Keller, which is one instance of how the Bucs have been slightly more willing to spend in order to lock up young cornerstone players.
“On the plus side, the tear means that India won’t need to undergo surgery on his foot…”
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Why.
I’m wondering that myself…
Plantar fascitis injuries that require surgery usually involve the fascia between balled up, or tight and has to be straightened out. So since it’s torn it’s not like that and can heal on its own
It hasn’t since last year so you have to wonder.
It’s a hellish injury.
Thanks forthe info.
Mostly this is informative, but not so sure the tear vs. (balled up) analysis is spot on. Had it twice in the minors, and it is a nasty. You think you can play through it, but the pain can be disabling. The core is near the heel, and stretches to the ball of your foot. It is an odd injury. It isn’t like a sprain, where you know when and where it started. It just happens. Can be progressively worse or wain or disappear on its own. It is a bit of an enigma.
Didn’t know that, or much about the condition at all, much obliged..
Tears of the plantar fascia aren’t generally operated on because the risk of surgical scarring in the area is more likely to cause permanent issues than letting the tissue heal itself.
(Scars on the bottom of your foot can affect the way you walk and run… and in some cases be just as uncomfortable as the condition the surgery was meant to alleviate.)
Treatment of a tear generally consists of a walking boot for 4-12 weeks (depending on the severity and location of the tear) plus physical therapy.
Plantar fasciitis on the other hand is technically the condition of having a or multiple micro tears (less severe) and is generally more manageable although still aggravating. Fixing this can be as simple as changing the type of shoes you wear, using insoles, or simply rest… other times treatment can be similar to that of a tear.
(Not a doctor. Just based off my own experience.)
You are correct, mostly. I disagree somewhat on the severity analysis. Too many degrees of tear to call minor or major and while you are correct on the procedures, the issue is it can come and go. Some days debilitating, others just intense pain, and then, like magic it can go away.
With tendon and muscle tears they’re either a full thickness tear, a partial thickness tear, or a micro tear. They are labeled as such based on severity. As in how much of it is torn. These are diagnosed with imaging. (ultrasound and MRI) It’s not really my analysis… just the way it is apparently.
For whatever reason they call the full and partial tendon tears “tears” and the micro tears plantar fasciitis. I don’t know how much tissue has to be damaged for them to distinguish a partial tear from a micro tear, but I do know that doctors treated me differently based on the different diagnosis.
Sorry to hear you’ve had to deal with it too. Definitely not a fun thing to deal with if you plan on being active.
Nice summary Elm. I’ve dealt with it. A couple of times. Quite painful and it took weeks upon weeks to get better. For some reason rolling a golf ball under your foot provides some kind of remedy or comfort. was afflicted about 15 years ago, and then it went away with rest. Now when I get some discomfort, I just grab the golf ball by my desk and try to head it off at the pass. I’m surprised that India is still dealing with it six months later. Always assumed it was part of my couch potato existence. Not fun.
Same thing that happened with Correa’s foot
Bam ! And that’s why India is still a red and why reds signed candelario!
For the life of me I couldn’t understand why the sale wasn’t traded to cincy for india instead of to Atlanta. Damaged goods
The Pirates woes could be lessened if Priester, Gonzales, & Davis (all recent 1st round picks) were to take big steps forward this year. Add in Skenes later this season and Johnson next year and the plan starts to make sense. I wish they’d sign another solid starter, but it may not be necessary if Priester, Ortiz, or Contreras are ready to help now. Certainly, more help is on the way.
won’t Oviedo be ready by ST ’25?
They could very well sign Lorenzen or Clevinger to bridge the gap.
The Pirates should sign Monty. Period. The formula they rode to their hot start last season was all about strong starting pitching. Monty, Keller, Skenes, would keep them competitive for the next 5 years.
You named yourself after Danny Murtaugh’s long time coach. Nice!
Pure coincidence in all honesty.
I assume it’s a tribute to ’90s Cardinals starting pitcher Donovan Osborne.
Another coincidence, but I definitely loved that guy.
It’s just not the money move you expect out of fa splashes. The narrative is still short term possible option attached. But why Nutting and Cherington want to defend the Chapman sign at 10 mil over balking at Bauer on minimum + incentives really baffles me.
I agree. People can talk until the cows come home about needing to spend to be competitive, but let’s be honest, player developement is the issue and what matters most. They have to get some hits with these guys or else the rebuild failed and they’re back to square one. I am not optimistic on Ortiz or Priester, but maybe Contreras can impress and they’ll get some help from the crop of guys in the minors.
Player development has been a problem for years with this organization. Players don’t learn the basics anymore like bunting or base running.
That injury of Cruz’ last year might have been a fluke but during the regular season, Marcano was injured using the same style.
Bae is arguably the fastest runner on the team yet he can’t successfully bunt to save his life.
Laying down a bunt to reach base should be a fundamental that’s taught in the minors
Two more points in defense of Pirates ownership and management: They did try to land several free agent pitchers per media reports, but didn’t succeed in landing them, probably because they can’t or won’t get in a bidding war. Also, they’ll never spend a quarter-billion on one guy because they’d rather have 3 stars than one superstar. Reynolds, Hayes and Keller cost them $107 + $77 + $70 = $254m. There is not one player I’d rather have than the 3 of these guys.
Extensions for Bednar, Cruz and Skenes are possible in the next couple of years, probably for the cost of one superstar. Again, that makes more sense to me. Pittsburgh can’t compete in the payroll battle with the megatropolis teams, but they can certainly compete on the field with any team if they spend and draft wisely and responsibly. Let’s Go Bucs!
That piece by Stephen Nesbitt may have only confirmed the suspicions of things Pirates fans may have already known/suspected, but it doesn’t hurt any less hearing it out loud. At least it helps to get the word out to a national audience beyond just Pirates fans and those who follow baseball closely. Maybe it’ll change things, but I’m not holding my breath on that. I think the Keller extension happening the very next day was just super concidental. At the very most, it made Bob Nutting slightly more negotiable.
As for Santana, I love him, but I was not too keen on bringing him back. He had career lows (or near career lows) in walk rate, exit velocity, barrel rate, and saw his xwOBA drop from .352 in 2022 to .306 last year. When a player is about to turn 38 and their exit velocity dropped by nearly 2 MPH, you have to start wondering how much is left in the tank and if they can sustain success moving forward in a full-time role.
We’re all counting the clock on nutting. It’s not fair to the city or fans that have endured hell and back through his tenure.
The solution could be leaving the city, but I don’t think that’s the end all. If you build it those fans will come in troves and bunches. The team loudly supports successful professional and college sports.
It is interesting to take credit for the inconsistencies in transitional philosophies. Often time this could take years to fully mature and it takes a few wrongs before you can’t miss a right.
I will say I like the direction. There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that the average fan doesn’t know about. That Dominican academy is top of the line stuff and really is setting these kids up for better lives with or without baseball.
Cherington has his work cut out for him and for me he’s making due with with the hand he’s dealt and not playing a bad game at that.
It’s encouraging over demoralizing to be a pirates fan and that’s progress for me.
Personally, I don’t see the Pirates moving out of Pittsburgh anytime soon. If you believe that Bob Nutting is a cheap owner, then his recent investments would not make any sense if he thought the team was leaving Pittsburgh within the decade. Over the last two years, they’ve invested nearly $16 million in a new kids’ area, bar in center field, jumbotron, and other kisosks, shops and other amenities around PNC. That includes a brand new team shop, which is significantly larger than the old team shop. They’ve added about 8400 SQ/FT to the park.
All I’m asking for at this point is a solid team. Not expecting 100 wins, not expecting 90 wins, just give me a team with 80-85 wins and I’ll be mostly satisfied. As of right now, I don’t think that range is out of reach.
The franchise pays the Sports and Exhibition Authority ( SEA) $100,000 per year in their lease agreement for use of the stadium
Upgrades are the responsibility of the franchise which is the least they can do considering the taxpayers of Pennsylvania footed the bill for construction of the stadium
Now I realize that the games bring in millions of revenue and the local establishments on the North Shore benefit from the games so as long as they bring in revenue, this franchise isn’t going anywhere
I don’t want them too and I think the narrative is more on Tampa and Oakland then you’d see Pittsburgh uproot itself. Too much history, gorgeous ball park and an up and coming club in a Not so run away division. What I meant by it was simply it is a way to solve the nutting problem. If you don’t care enough about the team just take the money and put it in someone’s hands that will.
I like the Keller extension, but he’s notorious for letting guys walk. Dealing with gms that can’t retain the talent themselves or just don’t have a systematic method in place to keep up with the constant changing of baseball.
I don’t think we see this nutting without this cherington. Nutting knows the fans are beyond over it and just want a chance to be a team that can compete. We don’t have to become night and day winners that’s going to take time and drastic change going forward.
*North Side
When they were competitive between 2012 and 2015, their annual attendance was over 2.5 million fans, setting the stadium record of 2.8 million fans in attendance in 2014
PNC Park’s capacity is around 38,000 so it’s true that if they are competitive fans will attend games
I agree to some extent regarding Santana’s offensive ability @mlb1225, however his defense at first base will be missed
At 37, he was a finalist for a GG at that position, something neither Rowdy or Joe could come close to doing
Having been a Pirate fan since 1966 and a former season ticket holder for 30 years, even though I lived out of state for most of those years, when it became obvious that Nutting wasn’t interested enough to bring a competitive team on the field on a consistent basis, I gave them up.
Why support a franchise whose only purpose was for profit? That’s been my philosophy for several years now
Not giving you any grief about Santana but when Tightwad Bob can get Rowdy Tellez for $3,200,000 why bring in Santana for 2 million more?
Tightwad Bob seems to have a fondness for buffet busting 1st basemen! SEE: Vogelbach, Daniel AKA The Big Lunchwagon.
🙂
Pirates rebuild is a busy unless Davis skenes and cruz are all good
And stay healthy too, don’t forget. I don’t think there is too much doubt as to Skenes being good, for ex. But health plays a big role.
Not true. Certainly would make team better if all of them are solid contributors, but they have depth in prospects to overcome a few of them falling short.
For example, Endy Rodriguez could become an AS caliber Catcher if Davis doesn’t make it at that position. Cheng could replace Cruz, or Pirates could move Hayes to SS and play Triolo at 3B. And Pirates pitching depth is the envy of the league.
Shortstop isn’t an easy transition from 3rd base regardless of how good Hayes is at 3rd.
Cruz is a better option in the outfield or at first base.
How can you say the Pirates pitching is the envy of the league? That is like saying Ketchup and peanut butter makes a great PB&J sandwich.
If Pirates pitching is so envied, why is it that us fans are begging for a boost in the rotation? You seriously think Contreras, Oritiz, Priester, Mlodzinski, Burrows, and Jackson were the guys to carry that rotation behind Keller? I know it’s the weekend, but slow down on the bottle bruh
Pirates pitching prospect depth was what I was referring to, not existing rotation.
The names I mentioned was the first round of “prospects”. Jones, Skenes, and so on, is the next wave. If anyone envies anyone’s pitching, it’s Miami. They are developing young pitchers quite well. There is of course Tampa Bay too
This explains a lot about the India extension. Was very shocked at the number he settled at, but he should be a good stepping stone for the next group coming.
Ashby you gotta root for. I think he’s going to be the next big arm out of Milwaukee. The injury really hurts the trajectory, but I think the risk is worth the reward.
As a pirates fan I was mad on the Choi and Santana signings. Thought the better move at the time was giving lewin and Nunez an even split at reps. Lewins gone and Nunez is off the 40 but I don’t think he’s out of the big plan in Pittsburgh yet. Guys just way too talented, but again getting hurt really played a major factor on his eta to the majors.
Fans of the Pirates have given up on Nutting and his cheap stance. For 30 years we have dealt with losing baseball (2-3 years of winning in that). While 25of those 30 years, was under Nutting. It’s still a long time of continuous losing and disappointment. No fan in all of baseball has endured this much pain and suffering. MLB owners and commissioners haven’t stepped in once. But heck, Nutting keeps Pirates in Pittsburgh. That is probably the only good this man has done.
You guys do have the best ballpark in baseball though…what a gem!
Sad thing is, Nutting only uses the stadium for a tourist attraction. It doesn’t care about winning as long as the stadium remains functional and profitable. With all the upgrades around the stadium and zero upgrades on the field, tells you exactly were Nutting priorities are at.
Don’t believe everything you read, you don’t have the best park in baseball. But you do have the comfort of never being disappointed late in a season being in a rebuild year after year
Actually PNC Park has been rated the best ballpark for several years now
And I don’t believe everything I read but do believe it when it’s reported in a reputable source
May not be number 1 on the list of most beautiful parks. Only San Francisco park is rated better than PNC and that is by a small margin. It can go either way
PNC is far better than Oracle which I would place third behind PNC and Petco. I’ve been to all three multiple times.
For Marty Brenneman to sing PNCs praises every time the Reds were in Pittsburgh, tells me it’s one hell of a ballpark..
Like to see Pirates give Gonzalez 500 AB. Move Triolo to first. Wish Cruz would move to 1st before he gets hurt again!
Let Cruz run the basepaths again, it may happen. Hopefully not at home plate again
I agree.
Scary! Guys young, really why risk? Put him at first? No pressure to play defense! 40 hrs.??