Baker out long term following surgery
Minnesota Twins RHP Scott Baker spoke to reporters Friday for the first time since having the ulnar
collateral ligament in his right elbow surgically repaired. Though not happy to be out for
nine-to-12 months, he felt he has finally fixed the right elbow that has been bothering
him for the past two years.
"I knew I wasn't crazy," he said.
Baker, 30, had been pitching with pain in the elbow for some time, shelved twice in
each of the past two seasons. He went 8-6 with a career-best 3.14 earned-run average in
2011 but didn't make a start after Aug. 8. This spring, he made only two starts on the
major league side and was never able to find his velocity.
"I know there was some speculation that maybe I was babying it or taking it easy," he
said. "But good grief, I did everything I possibly could to get better and to try to pitch
with it. But that just wasn't going to happen."
Before the operation, Baker gave orthopedic surgeon David Altchek permission to fix the
ligament if necessary.
"There was no definitive tearing or detachment," Baker explained, "but he said what he
performed was called 'a pickup.' Basically you pick up a pair of tweezers and see how
loose the ligament is, and he said it was a black-and-white issue to him that the ligament
was too loose. It was not a good ligament."
