Away from baseball, Jim\u00e9nez struggled with cartilage damage in his knee \u2013 something only those around the team knew.<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cOh yeah. We knew he was hurting,\u201d Dylan Lee, another reliever, said. \u201cThere were times where he was trying to get off the bus or get off the plane, even after a game, and you could tell he was hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Jim\u00e9nez continued pitching.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obviously, throughout my career, have felt things that I\u2019ve kept pushing through, and really didn\u2019t even think (this) was something that was going to be that bad,\u201d Jim\u00e9nez said. \u201cBut at the time, I felt something, I just came in every day, treated it. Pitching, I didn\u2019t feel anything. It was just something that it bothered me sometimes, so I kept pitching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim\u00e9nez began experiencing the pain in his left knee in July. At one point in August, he had the knee checked out. He received independent opinions from doctors.<\/p>\n
For Jim\u00e9nez, the knee wasn\u2019t bad enough to stop pitching.<\/p>\n
\u2018When we finish the season, we\u2019d take another look at it and see if we have to do anything about it,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cBut as of now, I\u2019m pitching and it doesn\u2019t bother me pitching. I\u2019ll just continue and at the end of the year, we\u2019ll see what we\u2019re going to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the shock came.<\/p>\n
In October, doctors re-evaluated Jim\u00e9nez and found increased cartilage damage in his knee. He needed surgery. The Braves called it a procedure \u201cto repair cartilage damage.\u201d Jim\u00e9nez believed it to be a torn meniscus cartilage transplant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, really surprised, because like I said, I was pitching fine,\u201d Jim\u00e9nez said. \u201cI think nobody thought that it was going to be something like that and I was going to miss so much time, but when the doctor said that, we just obviously listened to him. We talked to a few other doctors, just to make sure we were all on the same page. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the beginning of July \u2013 the month he began experiencing discomfort \u2013 through the end of the regular season, Jim\u00e9nez posted a 2.23 ERA over 32 1\/3 innings, with 43 strikeouts and nine walks. He pitched a scoreless inning against San Diego in the postseason. On the final day of the regular season, his four-seam fastball hit 96 mph.<\/p>\n
All of this with an injured knee.<\/p>\n
Even if it didn\u2019t bother him much while pitching, this is still super impressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw him after his surgery, I saw him at the ballpark and I was like, \u2018Good Lord, I had no idea that\u2019s what you were going through,\u2019\u201d Braves manager Brian Snitker said. \u201cIt just shows you how tough he is. And we know how well he did and how well we performed, and I hated that he had to miss time again. It was the back two years ago. Real stuff, too \u2013 that\u2019s the thing. But you know what, he\u2019ll come back and be all the better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to win,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI\u2019ve always known that about him. He takes it personally when he doesn\u2019t do well on the field \u2013 even if it is in his control or out of his control. I got a lot of respect for what he did last year and knowing that he was banged up and still going out there and competing every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim\u00e9nez said doctors told him that if he didn\u2019t have surgery, he might not return the same and the knee might keep bothering him. So, if nothing else, at least the surgery occurred in the offseason, which gave Jim\u00e9nez a chance of pitching this year.<\/p>\n
The Braves have said they expect Jim\u00e9nez to miss eight to 12 months. If he\u2019s out for 12, he won\u2019t pitch this year. If he\u2019s out for eight or nine, he\u2019ll be able to return around the All-Star break or shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n
So, the Braves could \u201cadd\u201d an elite reliever by getting back a healthy Jim\u00e9nez. But they also might be without him for the season.<\/p>\n
The silver lining for Jim\u00e9nez: His knee is repaired and he\u2019s on the road to recovery. He\u2019ll be fully healthy, without anything nagging him, when he returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just focusing on my rehab,\u201d Jim\u00e9nez said. \u201cObviously it\u2019s a long process, but I come here every day to work and try to do everything that I can just to make it right now. Obviously, hopefully I pitch this year. We don\u2019t know yet. It\u2019s something that, through the time, we have to look (at). As of now, I\u2019m focusing on my rehab every day and see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH PORT, Fla. \u2013 In the final week of the season, Braves right-hander Joe Jim\u00e9nez helped push his team to the postseason. He pitched on Sept. 28, then in both games of the Sept. 30 doubleheader against the Mets \u2013 the second of which was a victory that sent Atlanta to the postseason for a seventh consecutive season. Two days later, Jim\u00e9nez threw again in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Padres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n
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