Sports Medicine Doctor Reveals Why Scott Boras May Be WRONG About Tarik Skubal

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]We also have one of the top pitchers in baseball, arguably the top depending on who you talk to.

[00:00:05]So, why don't we start with that one and then we'll work to the O's and that's around Tarik Skubal because the term loose bodies got thrown around, Yoni.

[00:00:13]And I'm sitting here when you hear it, you probably have a lot of questions and the timeline was initially 2 to 3 weeks and then Scott Boras came out and said, "Everything went well, 4 to 6 weeks."

[00:00:27]Explain to our good people here, what does it mean to have loose bodies in an elbow?

[00:00:34]And what is the real expectation for this type of situation? Okay, so loose bodies just means you have bony fragments, maybe cartilage fragments.

[00:00:44]Cartilage is like a sheen covering of the the joint. Sometimes that can get beat up and like throw off um think about like pebbles on the highway where they're just like banging around.

[00:00:57]They might get caught in the joint.

[00:00:59]They'll cause pain. So, what the doctor did, Dr. Neal ElAttrache out in California, he just poked a couple holes in the elbow, went in, took out these little pieces of cartilage, maybe bony fragments. Um doesn't really matter and then closed the guy back up. That's what it means to have loose body removal.

[00:01:15]Now, the return time is really somewhat all over the map and here's why.

[00:01:23]We don't know how much damage was inside the joint. We don't know how many loose bodies there were. We know that there was no UCL tears or there were no ligament tears, but it's such a wide spectrum of what could have had what he could be taking out. That's the bad news. The good news for Tigers fans is that they didn't repair anything. So, there's no waiting process for it, well, it's got to it's got to mature, it's got to heal. Um he's got big scars or whatever it is. They're just removing I gave the same speech around the hamate where they're just going and removing pieces of bone. Now, it's about how quickly he can come back. But, as always, there's more than meets the eye.

[00:02:03]Okay? So, Schoop's been through a bunch in his history, which gives me some pause. You got to think, whenever you have bony spurs or floating bony bodies inside of a joint, the joint is under too much load.

[00:02:20]Schoop's already been through a flexor tendon repair back in 2020. He then reinjured that same um issue in 2022.

[00:02:30]Now, he's had a good run recently, but there's already been a bunch of damage here. Um maybe it makes you kind of understand some of the Tigers' reservations with giving him something big long-term early on. Maybe they kind of saw some of this, but there's a lot more than meets the eye than, "Okay, we're just going to remove bones, and that's the only injury this guy's had."

[00:02:51]When you ask about return to sport or return to pitching timelines, 4-6 weeks is quick.

[00:02:57]There are some good case studies here.

[00:02:59]There aren't awesome long-term data on how long does it take to get back?

[00:03:05]What's the success of the surgery, etc., cuz it doesn't happen that much.

[00:03:09]But, on one hand, you have Blake Snell.

[00:03:11]He underwent the exact same procedure in 2019, came back 6 weeks later, hasn't been on the shelf for any discernible period of time or any long period of time, I should say.

[00:03:24]Great success story. The cautionary tale is Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani had this procedure in Japan back in 18.

[00:03:35]Okay, he gets the bone spurs, sorry, he had it done in 16. He gets back, he makes his debut, he does great for the Dodgers.

[00:03:43]Fast forward, he's got two TJs that, you know, he's been through. So, when you go in that joint, there is a reason that the elbow has been under too much stress stress it's causing some bony or cartilage damage causing these bony spurs. So there's a lot to consider there. He may come back, but add this to his litany of injuries um moving forward.

[00:04:07]Well, and it's going to be something to follow because at the end of this year if I'm not mistaken cuz I talked to Scott Boris about this so I know I'm not mistaken Mr. Skubal is a free agent. Hasn't signed an extension.

[00:04:22]So there's a lot to watch here and of course on top of it the Tigers are trying to get back to the post season. They have high aspirations as a team. So it's a very tricky situation.

[00:04:35]But four to six seems quick, but also proceed with caution regardless when it comes to this. Uh well Rip, let me ask let me ask you this Rip. What do you do?

[00:04:45]You're Elias.

[00:04:47]Skubal comes out of this.

[00:04:49]He comes back. Are you writing a $400 million check for a long-term deal?

[00:04:54]Well, if you're telling me this that it can add this there's stress already on the elbow given the history and then you're worried about potential more stress in general.

[00:05:04]I don't think I could write a $400 million dollar check. I I think that's why you see a lot of short-term deals, but I think if anybody the upside for me Yoni is you get the top guy in the American League, right? Top guy one of top guys in in baseball. But for what you're telling me a long-term deal five years or more that seems like a dangerous game, no?

[00:05:27]Yeah. Yeah, listen, it gives me pause. I mean we've gone over this a number of times on the show. The ability to throw a baseball 100 miles an hour over and over at an elite level is a high stress high risk job position makes me leery also with these long-term contracts probably why you don't see as many, but no one's got a better better record.

[00:05:50]I mean, when he's on the field, Skubal is the Cy Young Award winner. That's just what he is. That's a fact. He's that good.

[00:06:00]But that's going to be the hesitation.

[00:06:01]You depend on which fan base you talk to, Yoni, I guarantee people in Baltimore say, "Hey, just pay him. Just do it." You know?

[00:06:08]Because well, the Orioles, quite frankly, have having an ace pitcher, a guy that they could hang their hat on of being that guy. They haven't had a true number one like that since Mike Mussina left the Orioles.

[00:06:22]>> Burns. Uh, well, for a long >> Long long period, yeah. longer period of time. Corbin Burnes came in and would have been if it was longer than a year, but I'm still talking about >> then let's what happened after that year?

[00:06:32]>> There you go.

[00:06:34]I got to take these off. I just brought my stuff on the screen and I caught myself off guard with that.

[00:06:38]>> talking about? I pulled up I was like, "What am I wearing right now?" I forgot about them for a second.

[00:06:43]>> It's about to harness the energy block that. These are These are These are shade blockers, you know, or you know, block out the negativity.