Alex Wood and Luis Medina will need season-ending surgeries
Alex Wood and Luis Medina
For two A’s starters, the 2024 campaign is over. Reporters were informed by manager Mark Kotsay on Thursday that right-hander Luis Medina will have Tommy John surgery the following month. In the meantime, rotator cuff inflammation will be treated by a shoulder operation for veteran southpaw Alex Wood (per the MLB.com injury tracker).
Neither development is very unexpected. The A’s revealed earlier this week that Medina had sustained damage to his elbow ligaments. Although he sought further testing in the hopes of avoiding surgery, it’s usually a long shot. It looks like Medina will miss much or all of the upcoming season.
Medina, who was acquired by the Yankees in exchange for Frankie Montas, spent portions of two seasons pitching for Oakland. As a rookie, he pitched 109 2/3 innings with a 5.42 ERA. This year, the 25-year-old made eight starts and gave up 5.18 earned runs every nine through forty frames pitched. He walked over 11% of batters he faced while striking out 17.8% of opponents. During his stint on the injured list, Medina will accrue service time. During the season, the A’s can place him on the 60-day injured list to free up a spot on the 40-man roster. Next winter, they’ll have to either waive him or put him back on the 40-man roster.
In February, Wood agreed to a $8.5MM free agent contract. The veteran southpaw, who, if healthy, could have been a midseason trade asset, was expected to have a rebound year for the A’s. Sadly, that was not meant to be. Wood made nine appearances for a 5.26 ERA in 39 1/3 innings thrown. He had poor walk and strikeout rates prior to being placed on the IL in the middle of May. A few weeks later, Oakland placed him on the 60-day injured list.
Wood is having his third straight bad season; he last had a sub-4.00 ERA in 2021 when pitching for the Giants. He turns 34 in January and will be eligible for free agency again at the beginning of the offseason. Before the upcoming season, he might only receive offers from minor league teams. The nature of the shoulder surgery and Wood’s anticipated readiness for Spring Training were not made clear by the A’s.
This Italian shot doesn’t include pizza. His formula for success in the Olympics includes puttering.
Leonardo Fabbri did not concentrate on his fight with COVID-19 or his numerous injuries that year when he went back
When he looked in the mirror, the answer became clear.
At 330 pounds (150 kg), Fabbri discovered that his waist was the main issue.
At that point, he made the difficult decision to dramatically alter his diet, consuming less pasta and completely giving up pizza, which was a significant sacrifice for an Italian.
After losing fifty-five pounds (25 kilograms) in less than two years, he won the silver medal at the global championships the previous year, the gold medal at the European championships in June, and now he plans to take on American competitors Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs in the men’s shot put competition, which gets underway this Friday at the Paris Games.
Crouser and Kovacs, the world record holders, have dominated the shot put for almost ten years; they placed first and second in the last two Olympics. But in the last Diamond League competition before the Olympics in Paris, Fabbri defeated Crouser, and with a record of 22.95 meters, he now holds the second-longest mark in the world this year.
Now that he weighs 275 pounds (125 kg), Fabbri feels as though he can move more quickly and generate more power as he twists around till the launch point.
He still eats six times a day, but lunch is the only meal he has in its whole. Occasionally, one of his favorite foods is served during the meal: bistecca alla Fiorentina, which is a T-bone-like dish that is typical of Florence.
“I never miss that when I’m in Florence,” Fabbri, a native of the Renaissance city, remarked.
