Jim Salisbury Giggles With Evil Glee As He Scares Us All About Cole Hamels’ Shoulder

Aw, come on guys! My shoulder’s fine! Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve never thought of CSN’s Jim Salisbury as an evil man.

I’ve always thought he was probably the best reporter on the Phillies’ beat. He usually gets the scoop before anyone else, never releases information before he should, and has a writing style that I admire.

That was until today, when he proceeded the scare the ever-living bejeezus out of the entire Phillies community when he reported that Cole Hamels experienced some level of shoulder discomfort/soreness/plague of ouchies during his off-season throwing program.

Of course, in the article, Ruben Amaro is quick to point out that the shoulder pain was minor, nothing to be concerned about, and that all is well.

"“I’d be concerned if this was an issue, but we don’t view this as an issue at all,” Amaro said Thursday.According to Amaro, Hamels “got aggressive” with his throwing program sometime in October. The pitcher, according to Amaro, “had some soreness” and contacted [head athletic trainer] Scott Sheridan.“We shut him down for a couple of weeks, but he’s fine now,” Amaro said. “He was being proactive more than anything else, which is good. We backed him off and slowed him down, but he’s back throwing now and doing fine. He’s had no complaints.”"

See? Nothing to worry about everybody! It’s all cool now! Cole is going to be super duper terrific! Don’t worry, those 2013 World Series tickets will still be good!

Still, the news that the Phils’ 29-year-old ace, who they just signed to a six-year, $144 million contract last July, was experiencing shoulder problems is enough to give anyone pause. But according to the Phillies, this kind of shoulder soreness is common. The team also noted that Hamels experienced a bit of soreness at the end of the regular season, in which he threw a career high 215 1/3 innings.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the health of Roy Halladay and an offense that appears to be thinner on paper than any the team has had since Charlie Manuel became manager, the Phils desperately need a healthy Hamels if they hope to contend for a playoff spot in a highly-competitive National League.

Speaking of Halladay, Salisbury also shared some health updates on him, as well as a couple other Phillies veterans whose medical situations bear watching.

On Roy, Amaro said, “He’s doing real well. Pitching coach Rich Dubee saw him throw. He feels good. His mechanics look good. Everything is positive. He’s getting loose faster than in the past. We’ll know more when he’s on the mound and firing, but right now all indications are good.”

In other words, Halladay’s arm hasn’t fallen off, so that’s some good news right there.

On Chase Utley, who has been fielding ground balls on a regular basis this off-season: “Chase is strong and good,” Amaro said. “He should be 100 percent going into camp.”

And on Ryan Howard: He “has shown no deficiencies” in his Florida workouts, according to Amaro.

Overall, the medical reports on the Phils’ injury-riddled veterans all appear to be positive thus far.

Still, that doesn’t give Jim Salisbury the right to scare the crap out of everyone whenever he darn well pleases.

For shame, Jim. For shame.