A leaner Delmon Young sees doctor Tuesday
Delmon Young will see a Los Angeles doctor Tuesday with the hopes of being cleared to further progress his rehabilitation from winter surgery on his ankle.
A leaner Delmon Young sees doctor Tuesday
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
BRADENTON, Fla. — Delmon Young will see a Los Angeles doctor Tuesday with the hopes of being cleared to further progress his rehabilitation from winter surgery on his ankle.
Young, who has yet to run on the field or take regular batting practice, is certain to begin the season on the disabled list. The Phillies are happy with one development: Young has used the downtime to improve his conditioning.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Young currently weighs 227 or 228 pounds. When Young was signed Jan. 22, he said he weighed 238 pounds.
The team believes, with improved conditioning, that Young can handle playing the outfield after spending 2012 primarily as a designated hitter for Detroit.
"He's in much better conditioning," Amaro said. "He's been doing fine in his hitting drills. We'll find out more when he starts progressing."
Amaro did not close the door on Young appearing near the end of the Grapefruit League schedule, but that is dependent on what the doctor, Richard Ferkel, sees. Young was scheduled to leave Florida on Monday night, see the doctor Tuesday and take a red-eye flight back to Florida that night.
Young is running on a special treadmill at 90 percent of his body weight. The Phillies are hoping the doctor clears Young for 100 percent. His work on the field has been limited to long tossing with the team's athletic trainers.
"He hasn't had any issues," Amaro said. "Hopefully we can get him going. Then we can get him to start taking regular BP and maybe start doing some outfield stuff."
Young had microfracture surgery on his right ankle in November. He signed for $775,000. If he spends one day on the active roster, he receives a $225,000 bonus.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
I don't understand this weight thing. Delmon comes into camp EVERY season in great shape, having lost weight and always struggles the first half of the season... After being on the road and I'm sure indulging in great clubhouse food, he gains back the weight, and then CRUSHES the ball the second half of the season and into the playoffs. Call me crazy, but history tells you that a beefed up Delmon means a much better offensive weapon. (He set the Tigers postseason HR Record in only two seasons). The guy's a beast and rakes when he puts the weight on. Crank it up Del! Good luck this year, pulling for you!— chimps4life- Another Bynum! W T F!!!!!!— phillyfan19335
- We can't know the result of his efforts, and I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt. I'm not optimistic that he can keep his nose clean and be a consistent performer in the outfield. He has a history of bad behavior, and no team was willing to pay him more than what he got from the Phillies. What does that tell you? Don't get your hopes up.— jerseyshorefan
- Rooting for you Delmon. Competition is good for the team.— ACBaughman
- Where do these bynum comparisons come from? how are these two similar?— The2ndMostInterestingManInTheWorld
- hope he's on the field for jewish appreciation day.— bubba church & granny hamner
- Probably another Andrew Bynum....— mrjarn
- He has a weight clause in his contract.— dmn
- No one cares too much about this guy either. Fans want players who put up numbers and play hard---not a guy who can't control what he eats and has a negative attitude to boot. Let's keep Enser and send Nix packing, if necessary.— hankhammer2
- This has been a spring of pleasant surprises and Delmon Young being serious about weight control is just another one. If he controls his weight, he has the best chance of a quicker recovery from ankle surgery. It would be a pleasant problem if Young, Ruf, Brown and Mayberry all have good springs. There is no such thing as too many good players. Michael Young is now playing like Michael Young played for a dozen years in Texas. Utley looks better than he has in 3 years. Howard looks like the Howard of 2010-11. He will never be the guy who hit 58 homers again but he doesn't have to be that kind of good to be scary in the middle of the lineup.— gotedge
- Delmon is a good righthanded bat and Phills need this. Phills figure to have 4 lefthanded hitters as starters. Delmon is still young and could step into the next level. D.Y or Ruf will be asked to bat 5th and Phills need righthanded threat for protection for Howard.— Don w
- I would rather have the Rule 5 guy than Young on the roster this year. Guys like Young are bad news in a locker room (see Andrew Bynum) and the Phils will be fine with Ruf or someone else they can trade for. We need speed and defense with the pitching we have and not some overweight head case.— hankhammer2
- Best way to condition with a bad leg/ankle/knee is treadmill running under water. Weight means very little in the water, yet the resistance is great. Like hearing about the weight issue becoming a non-weight issue. I'd prefer a healthy DYoung to a Nix. As said previously, don't be shocked to see Ruf in AAA as their primary LF or a trade to keep rule V pick on the Phillies roster.— drhoffman
- The "other 10%" goes to a special device called the "Smoothelic," whatever THAT is. And, just to make sure it goes through, you post it twice!— dwp66
- They said a "special" treadmill, I assume he's in some sort of harness that lifts him slightly? Iunno.— cloudkitt
- What does he do with the other 10% of his body weight while he is running? Does it stand there and watch?— Smoothellc
- What does he do with the other 10% of his body weight while he is running? Does it stand there and watch?— Smoothellc
- Yeah, I'd agree this is a major league hitter who can help if he's healthy.— PhillySubsMac
- Sounds like he's taking this whole "turn your career around" thing seriously. Phils will benefit from his bat soon enough...— Grazman
