I still feel like I’m one bullpen away from being ready to go, and that bullpen just hasn’t come yet.
— Glen Perkins, describing his rehab before Wednesday’s game
Glen Perkins is frustrated. That much was evident from his pregame appearance at Target Field before Wednesday’s game against the Oakland A’s. “I’ve been banging my head against the wall,” the former Minnesota Twins closer said. “I’d like to be further along than I am, but that’s just how it goes.”
He shrugged a lot in the interview. Occasionally he shook his head. He’s 34-year-old three-time All-Star with a shoulder injury, an ailment that has derailed many pitchers’ careers. “They do stuff to the back of my shoulder, they clean up the rotator cuff, they clean up the bursa sac. There’s just no way that there’s two that are the same,” he said. “Frankly, there aren’t many guys in Major League Baseball with shoulder surgeries.
“It’s not like Tommy John where you see a lot of guys that have had surgery by the same guy and are back in the big leagues or back pitching. All those are the same, every elbow is … they’re basically the same thing.”
Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine have not put a timeline on it. He stayed in Florida during April to rehab and has worked with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Los Angeles Dodgers team physician who is a shoulder specialist, and has sought a second opinion. He has a flexible rehab plan and is “following his arm,” as his college coach, longtime Gopher baseball manager John Anderson, calls it.
“I don’t think it’s anything that anybody has done”
“However my arm feels that day is kind of what I do, and I’ve had free reign to play however much catch I felt like I needed that day. More often than not it’s been furthered because I’m trying to, in my eyes, build arm strength,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to do, and who knows? Maybe I’ve thrown too much long toss and need to give it a break, it’s inflammation that’s bothering me. That’s why we’re talking to some people and trying to figure some things out.”
He seems at peace with what he’s done so far, knowing that every person reacts to rehab differently, although he’d like to be playing baseball again. Perkins is making $6.5 million this year. The Twins have a $6.5 million option on his contract for 2018, with a $700,000 buyout.
“Every guy is different, so what this guy did doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for me,” he said. “What that guy did doesn’t mean it’s gonna work, so I’ve leaned on our trainers and medical staff, and like I said, I just think it’s the recovery. I don’t think it’s anything that anybody has done, whether it’s too much or not enough, I think we did exactly what we should’ve done.
“I’m at peace with that. But like I said, I miss playing baseball. The only disappointment that I have is I’m not ready to play yet.”
Below are the key quotes from the interview, edited for brevity and clarity.
(We have video of the exchange, but unfortunately it has been blocked, likely because copyrighted music was playing in the background)
How is the rehab going?
It’s going alright. I mean, I’ve just continued on the same path, which is … I don’t know. I’m able to go out and throw. I’m able to throw off the mound, I just haven’t progressed as quickly as I want. But I’ve talked to some people and kind of asked around, it’s expected, I guess.
I talked to Derek a while last night about it, and there’s varying opinions on how long shoulders can take, and I think I’ve had some deadlines in my head, and things I’ve tried to work hard to reach, and I haven’t, and that’s been frustrating for me. But it’s kind of known about shoulder surgeries.
I’ll just continue to do what I’m doing, and whatever they tell me to do and whatever paths we go from here as far as rehab. I’ve been banging my head against the wall. I’d like to be further along than I am, but that’s just how it goes.
It’s not anything that I think that I’ve done or haven’t done, and it’s just been my own goals that I think that I’ve set, and hopefully in time it will.
So management is not pushing you?
Yeah. I mean, yeah.
You hear wide ranges of time plans or timetables, I guess. I always hoped that I would be on the early side of that, and so far it hasn’t worked out that way. I still feel like I’m one bullpen away from being ready to go, and that bullpen just hasn’t come yet.
I’m going to hold out hope that one of these times I’m gonna get on the mound and it’s gonna feel better than it has than the previous one. Until that happens, I’m gonna keep doing what I’ve been doing.
Is your arm getting stronger?
I’m a lot further along than that. It’s hard to judge. I can confidently say I’m over 50 percent, and I can confidently say I’m under 100 percent. There’s a wide range in there.
But I know that long-toss is a lot closer to 100 percent than my bullpens have been, and I think that’s encouraging. That’s kinda what I’ve been propping myself up with, is that I’ve felt good playing catch, and I hope that continues and I hope that translates onto the mound at some point.
So not letting it loose at this point?
No, I’m not at 100 percent.
“I can confidently say I’m over 50 percent, and I can confidently say I’m under 100 percent. There’s a wide range in there”
What does it feel like?
It just, I can’t [thinks about it] let it go, it’s a … I can feel pain coming on. Not in a bad way, it’s just whatever it is in there, whether it’s inflammation or a lack of strength, I don’t know, but it’s not to the point where I can let it go.
In my head, I throw as much as I can to where I can tolerate how it feels. And then that’s kinda where it’s at. It’s hard, it’s a hard thing to describe.
You can’t fully extend?
Not on the mound, no. That’s kinda where … I mean, I don’t know, I guess I can, but I can’t not … if I try to throw the ball as hard as I can. I can get a lot closer to throwing the ball as hard as I can on flat ground, just not on the mound [shrugs].
Is this something you’re trying to fight through?
Like I said, I had the eight-month thing in my head, and when I came out of surgery, they said it was going to be closer to ten months, and we’re at ten months and I hadn’t got there, but then I talked to other people, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, with the work that you had done, it might be a little bit longer.’
So I think some people are gonna say this, some people are gonna say that, and just kind of whatever … I mean, all along, at least with Derek and Thad, they’ve been, ‘Whenever you’re ready, you’re ready,’ and not putting a timeline on it. I’ve put timelines on it, because I want to play. It’s been over a year since I’ve played baseball.
That’s been my motivation, is to try to get back. To get back as safely and as quickly as I can. It’s frustrating when you don’t reach the goals that you set, and I know I still have three weeks until I come off the DL anyways — I guess a little bit more than three weeks — and I’m holding out hope that it’s gonna around then still.
I just need to get over that hump. If I can get over that hump, I think I can move along, but until I get over that hump, there’s nothing I can really do.
“For me it’s not a mental thing at all”
Is it a mental hurdle too?
I don’t think so. Obviously I’ve never had shoulder surgery, but I had teammates in college blow their elbows out on one pitch, and I said if I ever did that, I don’t think I could throw again, and I blew my lat out on one pitch 11 years ago, and I came back and pitched just fine.
I got over that mental hurdle, no problem. And this wasn’t a one-pitch incident, this was a culmination of hundreds of thousands of pitches.
I’ll know when I can throw. It’s been the same way with long-toss, I knew when I could go from 90 feet to 120 feet, I knew when I could go out to 150 feet.
For me it’s not a mental thing at all. I know when I try to throw the ball harder than I have, or with more effort than I have, it doesn’t feel good. So to me that’s, I don’t know, that’s not a thing in my eyes.
He throws bullpens on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Do you throw a lot of long-toss?
Yeah, I mean yeah. It varies based on how I feel. I mean, some days … I played catch with Phil [Hughes] today, I might have gone 100 feet, some days I go 150. It’s just kind of whatever … my college coach called it ‘following your arm.’
However my arm feels that day is kind of what I do, and I’ve had free reign to play however much catch I felt like I needed that day. More often than not it’s been furthered because I’m trying to, in my eyes, build arm strength.
That’s what I’m trying to do, and who knows? Maybe I’ve thrown too much long toss and need to give it a break, it’s inflammation that’s bothering me. That’s why we’re talking to some people and trying to figure some things out.
But yeah, I’ve thrown a lot of baseballs in the last … since Spring Training started.
On his rehab in Minnesota vs. Florida
Obviously when I came up here, I was intending to do all my stuff outside, the first day I came in, it was snowing. Monday I was able to throw as planned.
“There’s just no way that there’s two that are the same”
Is there anyone who had a similar thing that you lean on?
No, I don’t know anyone … I believe that there’s infinite places in your shoulder that they can put anchors. Some people have one, some people have two, some people have five. (He has two.)
Honestly, I don’t know if there’s ever been two that have been the same. They do stuff to the back of my shoulder, they clean up the rotator cuff, they clean up the bursa sac. There’s just no way that there’s two that are the same. Frankly, there aren’t many guys in Major League Baseball with shoulder surgeries.
It’s not like Tommy John where you see a lot of guys that have had surgery by the same guy and are back in the big leagues or back pitching. All those are the same, every elbow is … they’re basically the same thing.
So there’s no other examples?
Yeah. And again, even that, every guy is different, so what this guy did doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for me. What that guy did doesn’t mean it’s gonna work, so I’ve leaned on our trainers and medical staff, and like I said, I just think it’s the recovery. I don’t think it’s anything that anybody has done, whether it’s too much or not enough, I think we did exactly what we should’ve done.
I’m at peace with that. But like I said, I miss playing baseball. The only disappointment that I have is I’m not ready to play yet.
“If I come back and throw 86 mph, if I can get guys out, I get guys out. If I come back and throw 96 mph”
Is there a velocity you’ve been at off the mound?
No. It’s irrelevant until I can actually throw. Even then it’s irrelevant. I mean, if I come back and throw 86 mph, if I can get guys out, I get guys out. If I come back and throw 96 mph, I’ll be able to get more guys out.
It’s … I don’t care about that right now. I got hung up on that in Spring Training. It’s just not. Until I’m throwing with full effort, there’s no point in worrying about how hard I’m throwing.
No sliders or anything?
I throw sliders, I have.
Almost every time since maybe late August. [thinks about it] Every day is the same to me.
Since late in Spring Training, more often than not, I’ll throw some sliders. But even that, I mean, when I’m not throwing with full effort, even with the sliders it’s like, is it really doing anything? I don’t think it’s really serving any purpose.
I still throw them sometimes, if I feel like it. I throw them on flat ground, I throw them when I play catch. And I’ve thrown them off the mound, I haven’t thrown them full distance.
But yeah, it’s more arm strength and trying to get my shoulder to feel good enough to where I can let the ball go. That’s on the forefront of my mind.
Do you expect to get the ElAttrache report today? 03:14
I have no idea.
I feel like I’ve plateaued for a while here. I’m tired of being on a plateau. I want to improve, I don’t want to be plateaued any more.
