M’s Reed may be ready for opener

  • By Kirby Arnold / Herald Writer
  • Tuesday, March 28, 2006 9:00pm
  • Sports

PEORIA, Ariz. – The pain that lingers in Jeremy Reed’s right wrist tells him there’s still something wrong. The relief in his mind, however, assures him that he’s going to be OK much sooner than anyone had anticipated.

And possibly, Reed will be able to play in the Seattle Mariners’ season opener Monday at Safeco Field.

Five days after Reed suffered what the Mariners’ medical staff believed was a broken bone in the wrist that would keep him out for weeks, and maybe months, the team announced a completely different diagnosis Tuesday.

After a series of tests, images and dye injections in Seattle, the Mariners said Reed does not have a broken bone or even ligament damage. He was back at the Mariners’ spring training complex Tuesday for treatment, which will continue until he is re-examined Saturday.

The Mariners won’t say when he might play again, but there’s hope that he could be in the lineup Monday against the Angels.

“I went there (to Seattle for tests) thinking it would be six weeks, minimum,” Reed said, “and I came out of there thinking I can possibly play soon. If everything went perfectly, I could play (Monday).”

The news was a huge relief to manager Mike Hargrove, who had altered his lineup to replace Reed in center field and considered roster ramifications as the team determines the final few spots.

Joe Borchard, obtained in a trade with the White Sox three days before Reed was hurt, has played center field in his absence. If Reed is ready by opening day, Borchard will become a bench player and one of the other bench candidates – Greg Dobbs, Mike Morse or Roberto Petagine – will face a greater jeopardy of not making the 25-man roster.

“All those prayers I offered up paid off,” Hargrove said. “It’s too soon to have any opinion, but I’m anticipating him being ready for opening day. At first we were talking six to eight weeks. Now we’re looking at three to five days.”

Reed injured the wrist Thursday night when he crashed into the center field wall chasing a fly ball hit by Johnny Estrada of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The first X-rays showed a fracture to the scaphoid bone in the wrist. It turned out to be an image of an injury Reed suffered several years ago. Trainer Rick Griffin said the X-ray, plus significant pain and swelling, led the Mariners to believe he had fractured the wrist.

“Everything presented itself as a fracture,” Griffin said. “When you get an X-ray done and see a crack in a bone, and several people look at it, it’s very suspicious.”

Reed flew to Seattle on Friday to be examined by Dr. Carleton Keck, a noted hand specialist who put the center fielder through numerous tests.

When doctors told him Monday that none of the tests showed a fracture, Reed didn’t believe it.

“I was lying on the table and they were going through me with the dye. The (video) screen was right in front of me and I could see all the bones,” Reed said. “I’m talking to the doctor and he’s saying he doesn’t see a break. I’m telling him which bone is broken, but he’s telling me, ‘Well, it’s not there.’ I didn’t know what was going on.

“Then Dr. Keck looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know what to tell you, but it’s very apparent that it’s not broken.”

It became a happy ending to a draining weekend for Reed.

“I went from being disappointed to frustrated to ticked off at having to go back to another test to happy,” he said. “It was very emotional.”

Reed said the injury scare won’t change his full-speed-ahead style of play, even in spring training.

“I thought a million times, ‘It’s spring training. Why did I do it?’ ” he said. “But as soon as I’m ready to play again, if I have an opportunity to make a play like that again, I’ll do it.”

The best-case scenario for the Mariners is that he gets that chance on opening day.

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