One Little Twist
It wasn’t much. Just an awkward little twist. But it ripped a tear in his left oblique.
And Rowan Wick might be done for the season.
Cubs and Indians. Top of seven. Tied 2-2. Rowan sprints in from the pen to keep the Cubs revved and ready. He opens with 95 heat in the heart of the zone and Tyler Naquin grounds out.
Oscar Mercado, one of Rowan’s buds, steps in. Another 95 on the black for a called strike. So far, so sweet.
And then…
It’s 96 with life. But, as he finishes, Rowan spins and twists toward first base. At first glance it’s nothing, just a glitch about as significant as scratching your chin.
But the oblique snarls viciously.
Now most pitchers would have waved a white flag and headed to the trainer’s table. That would be the logical, conservative move. But Rowan Wick doesn’t pack a white flag in his duffel bag. He stayed on the hill, threw eight more pitches in searing pain, and blanked the Indians. As he left he gave catcher Willson Contreras a knuckle and then caressed his rib cage, trying to heal the rip with a miracle massage.
When Rowan reached the dugout Rossy told him he was going back out for the eighth. It was only then he revealed the oblique tear.
Wick and Kimbrel and a Joe Frazier KO
This is a major blow for the Cubs. Closer Craig Kimbrel is back in the saddle and Wick was slated to be his set-up man, a lethal left hook and right cross knockout barrage.
“Rowan’s been a lockdown guy, he’s thrown really well,” Ross said. “So it’s a huge loss.”
The obliques are the strips of muscle alongside the abs just above the hips. They’re often ignored when it comes to training but that’s a mistake. The obliques are rotation boosters and Ryan Dempster worked them diligently when he was lifting.
Evel jumps the fountain when the world was black and white
The legendary daredevil Evel Knievel, who crushed almost every bone in his body, told me a broken hip was the most painful because it barked every time he moved anything. The obliques are the same.
There’s a chance Rowan will be back to finish this surreal season if the Cubs roll to the Series. Maybe three or four weeks of rest will seal the wound so he’s staying with the team. Rowan even told Ross he could mount the hill the next day, which would be like a guy with a broken leg running the Boston Marathon.
What the hell, with Rowan’s grit and guts he would have aced that marathon without even a limp.
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