Orioles shortstop, J.J. Hardy will miss about two months
J.J. Hardy is out 6-8 weeks with what is being called a hairline fracture in his left foot. Although there is not an injury that I would necessarily describe as a good injury, in this case there are some things to be positive about.
When you look up the term hairline fracture you will see this term associated with the term stress fracture, but in the case of Hardy this can be a little misleading. Hardy injured himself from the direct trauma of fouling a ball off of his foot. This is a far better scenario than a stress fracture which means there is likely something wrong with the biomechanics of his lower extremity which would have caused excess stress to a particular area.
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When dealing with fractures, I will always prefer a traumatic fracture that is caused by a singular event as opposed to a fracture that is caused by an alignment issue, or an overuse issue. The chances of another ball hitting Hardy in the foot again with enough force to cause a fracture are slim, so in many ways, this is an open and shut case. The medical team can simply immobilize the fracture site and let it heal. Had this been a stress fracture; not only would Hardy have to heal but a Physical Therapist would have to do a bio-mechanical assessment to figure out why the injury occurred and how to prevent it from re-occurring.
Think of this hairline fracture like a crack in your windshield after a rock hits you on the highway. If it the crack is small (like a hairline fracture), you can get it sealed (immobilized) and move on. Only in the case of the human body that sealing process requires six to eight weeks. If you ignore the crack, it will expand until eventually the windshield is at risk of collapsing. Hardy will have to take the full six weeks to start and then allow scans to determine when the area is fully healed before he returns to activity. Anything but a fully healed area leaves him at risk similar to that untreated windshield. The fortunate part in this scenario is at least you know why the windshield is cracked as you saw and heard the rock hit it. Its not as if the windshield just randomly developed a crack, which would be more analogous to a stress fracture.
I think those who are invested in J.J. Hardy will simply have to accept that it will likely be a full six to eight week recovery plus a few more weeks to get back in playing condition, as unfortunately these types of injury restrict your ability to condition. The best news is that there should be minimal to no lingering effects when he returns and this is not an injury that should elevate Hardy’s overall injury risk profile.
Hopefully J.J. Hardy’s foot is luckier than me with my windshield as I beat the odds and cracked two windshields in two weeks during a heavy driving schedule. My advice is to listen for the reports around six weeks from now as it should be pretty clear cut on whether he has healed up or will need a couple of additional weeks. Just remember that the after effects of this injury are more in his favor as compared to many of the other muscular and ligamentous injuries that have been going on lately, so this may be an area to latch on to a player that others shy away from due to injury concern.
Dr. Eric Petty is a Physical Therapist who is taking his talents from the treatment room to help fantasy owners. You can find more of his work at his site, The Injury Report Doctor, and you can follow him @DrPettyIRD.
