Vicente Padilla is headed for surgery on a nerve in his forearm and there’s no official timetable yet for his recovery, but general manager Ned Colletti told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times that he “absolutely” expects Padilla to pitch for the Dodgers at some point this season.
In fact, according to Hernandez “he expressed confidence that Padilla would return from his surgery before the All-Star break.” Colletti also explained that the Dodgers knew his forearm and elbow problems presented a health risk when they re-signed Padilla to a one-year, $3 million deal that includes up to $6 million in incentives.
What’s interesting about Colletti’s optimism regarding Padilla returning before the All-Star break is that the initial word of the surgery suggested the 33-year-old right-hander would be out significantly longer and, as Hernandez writes, “rookie manager Don Mattingly’s evasive responses earlier created confusion.”
Hernandez went on to say that “in his morning briefing with reporters, Mattingly showed he had a long way to go before anyone started calling him Donnie Press Conference,” which qualifies as a pretty harsh bit of criticism from a beat reporter who’ll be relying on Mattingly for information all season. There’s been a lot of skepticism surrounding Mattingly’s managerial readiness and he certainly hasn’t helped himself any when it comes to the perception that he might be overmatched as Joe Torre’s replacement.
