The medical information that the Yankees released about Joba Chamberlain's shoulder was incomplete and imprecise, which is to be expected. "Rotator cuff tendinitis" -- inflammation -- says a lot about a symptom and says little about the source of the problem. There is some hope that this is not a catastrophic injury.
But really, what the Yankees say or don't tell us doesn't really matter. The practical impact is that Chamberlain, among the two or three most important members of the Yankees' pitching staff, is not available now -- he won't be for at least a couple of weeks -- and it's not certain whether he will pitch again this season. The course of treatment he will take moving forward is standard operating procedure: Presumably, he will receive anti-inflammatory medication, and then in another week to 10 days, he will be reevaluated and begin throwing. The hope is that with the rest, there will be some time for healing and he will be able to move forward.
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Buster Olney
