Braves pitcher Brandon McCarthy dislocated his non-throwing shoulder twice last year when the veteran was with the Dodgers, so when he did it again Wednesday he wasn’t as freaked out as he might have been.
McCarthy left the game against the Nationals with subluxation -- partial dislocation -- of the left shoulder when he reached to catch a throw while covering first base for the final out of the fifth inning, with the Braves leading 2-1 in a game they won 5-3 in 12 innings.
The slender, 6-foot-8 McCarthy appeared to be in a great deal of pain when he grabbed his left arm with his right hand immediately after crossing the base and signaled to the bench that he needed help.
Braves head trainer George Poulis popped the shoulder back in while they were on the field, and McCarthy was able to swing the arm as he walked off the field.
“It’s just a very uncomfortable, very weird feeling, so it’s mostly just the shock of that,” McCarthy said of his initial reaction, which undoubtedly sent a scare through Braves Country, as he’s been their best and most consistent start in the early going. “It’s not that it’s tremendous pain, it’s just tremendous discomfort.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said he should be able to make his next start, and McCarthy agreed.
“I should (be able to),” McCarthy said. “As long as it just goes away. It has, where it’s a couple of days it’s just sore, and then you’ve just got to get back to work and go. ... I know exactly what it feels like when it happens, so it’s just hurry up and get it back in, then from there I know it’s sore tonight, sore tomorrow, and then the day after that it starts to feel normal again, so I can work through it.”
McCarthy, 34, had a 10-day stint on the disabled list with the Dodgers last year when he dislocated the shoulder doing a weightlifting drill. Soon after returning he developed patella tendinitis in his right knee.
He said he needs to have surgery to repair the shoulder, but didn’t want to have it before this season. He was traded to the Braves in December and is in the final year of his contract before free agency.
“I don’t know, last year was the first one,” he said. “It feels like a gunshot, and you don’t know what the hell’s going on. And then the second one I had it’s just kind of the same, now I know what it is and it’s less of a shock and then it’s just, breathe, calm down, let’s get this back in and figure out what I can do. ...
“There’s positions I, like, shouldn’t put my arm in. But in a game situation where you’re trying to do something it’s just going to happen. It’s something that’s going to have to be surgically repaired at some point, I didn’t want to do it for this season. So I know the possibility exists, I know how to get through it more or less.”
McCarthy is 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA in three starts, including no decision Wednesday. He had a lead and had allowed only four hits, one run and two walks in five innings when it happened Wednesday.
“It stinks,” he said. “I guess if there was a time in the game with their lineup coming through a third time and our bullpen ready to go, if there’s a place for it to happen I guess that’s a decent spot.”
