http://www.blessyouboys.com/2016/6/...ry-thoracic-outlet-syndrome-dl-detroit-tigers
Drew VerHagen placed on Tigers’ 15-day DL with thoracic outlet syndrome.
bybtb
http://m.tigers.mlb.com/news/article/184662048/drew-verhagen-has-thoracic-outlet-syndrome
VerHagen deals with thoracic outlet syndrome.
Tigers reliever placed on 15-day DL, but no timetable for his return.
Tigers official site
VerHagen to DL.
It’s been a whacky season so far for right-hander Drew VerHagen.
He struggled after making the 25-man roster and was sent back to Toledo. Turns out, he was trying to pitch through a painful nerve condition.
VerHagen was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday with right shoulder thoracic outlet syndrome. In lay terms, a nerve was being compressed near his clavicle.
"He was getting some soreness in and around the clavicle when he pitched,” Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said. “So it came to a point where he couldn't pitch.”
Rand said VerHagen was examined both by the team physicians and by specialist Dr. Greg Pearl in Dallas, and it was decided the course of action would be physical therapy to alleviate the compression.
Some of the manifestations of the injury – pain in the shoulder and neck and numbness in the fingers – are similar to what Shane Greene experienced last season. Rand said this was not the same.
"It's a neurological thoracic outlet, not arterial (blood),” he said. “We are hoping we can get through it with PT.”
Greene’s condition was a blood-flow disorder and he did need surgery.
Asked if VerHagen might need surgery, Rand said, “It’s possible, but at this time it's not being considered.”
Like Greene, though, VerHagen did have numbness in his fingers.
“That was in his last outing,” Rand said. “His last outing in Toledo he felt numbness in his fingers. But, again, it's nothing to do with the blood. It's the nerve.”
Detnews
VERHAGEN ON DL:
Mysterious issues with Drew VerHagen were finally diagnosed this week, and it's resulted in the right-handed relief pitcher placed on the 15-day disabled list.
VerHagen has right shoulder thoracic outlet syndrome, a neurological issue in which he reported numbness in his arm.
"He was getting was some soreness around the clavicle when he pitched," Tigers trainer Kevin Rand said. "So it just (got) to the point that he felt he couldn't pitch."
He was examined by Dr. Greg Pearl, of Dallas, Texas, and the hope, Rand said, is physical therapy can correct the issue.
VerHagen made 19 appearances for the Tigers this season, allowing 15 runs on 28 hits in 19 innings, and reported the issue during a stint with Triple-A Toledo on May 25.
"It's not the (diagnosis) you're necessarily looking for," Rand said. "And at the time, he was throwing the ball still very well."
Mlive
A bit more on the diagnosis for Tigers P Drew VerHagen, who was placed on the DL with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Tigers are first going to try to rectify the issue with physical therapy, though surgery has not been ruled out. It is NOT a blood flow/clot situation, however, but rather nerve-related. Reported numbness in last outing.
espn
