One year ago, life seemed good for Penn pitcher Brian Winings. He had made the unusual transition from catcher to reliever to starter, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 48th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
But all was not well.
Some time in the middle of last season, Winings tore his labrum, the ring of cartilage inside the shoulder that increases the surface area of the shoulder joint, making it stronger and more stable.
The problem for Winings was that the tear in his right (pitching) shoulder did not occur on a single pitch, but was a gradual weakening, causing pain in his shoulder and decreased velocity.
The Reston, Va., native said it started as a "fatigued feeling" that went away as he got lose, but as his symptoms worsened, Winings realized that he could not just pitch his way through it.
Repetitive stress
What is surprising about Winings' injury is that it tends to afflict pitchers who are overworked. Yet Winings was only in his third year as a pitcher. At Thomas Jefferson High School, Winings played catcher. But at Penn coach Bob Seddon turned him into a pitcher -- one who could throw the ball 90 miles per hour.
Winings was both Penn's starting catcher and closer as a freshman and sophomore, until a knee injury on a play at the plate caused Seddon to use him only on the mound.
In 2003, Winings was named to the All-Ivy first team for his league-high eight saves, as well as 19 strikeouts in only 15.1 innings pitched. In addition, he hit .340 with three home runs.
Over the summer, Winings played in the Clark Griffith League, and was named an all-star for collecting a league record-tying 10 saves in 18 appearances without allowing an earned run.
The next season, Winings was converted to a starter, and set career highs in innings pitched. But the extra throwing -- including the time spent playing a catcher -- caught up with him.
"I had an aura of invincibility," Winings said "I thought I couldn't get hurt."
Unclear diagnosis
When he first felt the pain, Winings dropped his arm angle to lessen it; something he later learned only exacerbated the problem. In May 2004, he saw an orthopedist who told him he probably had tendonitis, that his shoulder looked tired and needed rest. Winings tried to throw again in the summer, but had to shut it down again. He saw another orthopedist, who gave him the same diagnosis.
The same thing was repeated with two more doctors in the fall and in January of 2005.
Winings continued trying to rehab his shoulder, working towards pitching the spring season. He came out of the bullpen in Penn's first game against Southern Utah. He pitched an erratic two-thirds of an inning, and did not pitch the rest of the year.
"I knew it was pointless to keep going," he said. "I couldn't lift my arm without feeling pain."
Finally, Winings convinced the fourth orthopedist that he had seen, Dr. Craig Morgan of Wilmington, Del., to run an MRI on his shoulder.
Morgan a well-known surgeon, has operated on or consulted with several high-profile athletes like Curt Schilling, Hugh Douglas and Robb Nen.
The MRI technician said there appeared to be no tear of the labrum, but when Morgan saw the results, he changed the diagnosis.
This type of confusion is not uncommon. Because the labrum is located between two bones, it is very hard to see a tear on an MRI. Often, the only way to diagnose a tear is through arthroscopic surgery.
Morgan offered Winings two choices for his shoulder: rehab or surgery.
For Winings, the choice was an easy one.
"I had already been rehabbing it, and I figured there would be no way it's getting better," he said.
On May 18, just two days after graduating from Penn, Winings went under the knife.
A bright future?
So far, the diagnosis has been good for Winings. Morgan repaired the originally diagnosed tear -- what is known as a SLAP (superior labrum tear - anterior to posterior) lesion -- and another tear that had begun to form.
"I've had pretty good feedback," Winings said.
That feedback is not only from his doctor but also several Major League scouts, from the Indians, Mets and other teams.
Winings has to wait at least three months before he can pick up a baseball, and then another two until he can throw from the mound. After yet another month, he hopes to be ready to pitch again. That timetable would allow him to return to form by early next year.
When Winings does return, he won't be pitching for the Quakers. Because of his appearance in the Southern Utah game, he needed a medical hardship waiver from the Ivy League to gain another year of eligibility. But Ivy League rules do not allow him to play for Penn as a graduate student.
So Winings has two choices: either go to a school that allows graduate students to play intercollegiate athletics or rehab independently, and call the scouts he is in contact with when he returns to form.
At this point, Winings is "still trying to reevaluate [his] options," and said that it was "premature" to comment on what schools he is looking at.
If he does not pitch for a school, Winings could be signed before next year's draft. If not, whatever he does, he will be eligible for the 2006 draft.
Right now, he is only looking forward, working his way to his dream of playing professional baseball.
"Coming back from an injury like this you can't really say what if."
Instead, he said he is trying to stay positive.
He has at least one believer in his former coach.
"He's got a good opportunity to get drafted," Seddon said. "If you throw the ball 90 miles per hour you have a shot."
