Sore Shoulder May Sideline Struggling Hoyt

On Tuesday, two days after his last start, Padre pitcher LaMarr Hoyt tried playing catch with a teammate.

“And I couldn’t throw the ball 90 feet,” Hoyt said.

In disgust, he went into the clubhouse for treatment, complaining again to trainer Dick Dent that his right shoulder was “killing” him. Dent massaged him. Dent gave him exercises to do. Still, Hoyt emerged from the training room Wednesday and said: “I’m questionable for my next start (Saturday). It’s tendinitis in my right shoulder. And it’s real sore. Real sore . . . . My whole career, I’ve never had soreness or stiffness (in the shoulder area). It’s the most frustrating thing I’ve seen in my life.”

But it all makes sense, because finally there’s a reasonable explanation for his recent inability to get people out. In his last four starts, Hoyt has yielded 39 hits and 20 runs in 18 innings. He hasn’t won a game since July 20.

Blame it on his arm.

Blame it, maybe, on a specific umpiring crew.

Back on Aug. 2 in Houston, the crew of Joe West, Doug Harvey, Frank Pulli and Eric Gregg called a balk on Hoyt, the same crew that had called four previous balks on him. Hoyt, mystified, changed his motion. By changing that day, he began throwing mostly with his arm, not his entire body.

The injured shoulder resulted.

“I’m not saying that’s the reason because I don’t like to make excuses,” Hoyt said Wednesday. “But that’s what I’ve been thinking about (as a possible explanation for his lack of effectiveness).

“I don’t like getting hit like that. I asked Terry (Kennedy, the Padre catcher): ‘Is the quality of my pitches that bad?’ Because when you’re hurt, it’s hard to judge. It numbs my feeling for changing speeds. Anyway, Terry told me that four out of five of my pitches are great, but the fifth one is 80 m.p.h. and right down the middle. I’m losing two feet on my fastball.”

What to do? Hoyt and Dent have consulted, and Hoyt will either try to strengthen his arm and pitch through it or miss a start. However, Hoyt did talk to pitching coach Galen Cisco during Wednesday night’s game, and Cisco mentioned Hoyt had been opening up too soon with his left arm and hadn’t been pivoting correctly in his windup. Could that have caused the injury?

Hoyt: “I try to talk myself into being healthy. I try to block the stiffness and pain out and go about my business. But that fifth pitch is killing me. My stuff just isn’t as crisp as it should be. I have to make adjustments, maybe change my pitch selection. I’ve seen guys throw not as hard as I can now and still get people out.”

He will visit a doctor in New York on Friday and then decide whether to pitch Saturday.

“By then, I’ll probably be 60-to-70% healthy,” he said.