There have been a lot of really weird turns in the A-Rod/Yankees/PEDs saga, but this one may be the strangest. The doctor who Alex Rodriguez sought out for a second opinion on his reported quad strain, Dr. Michael Gross, said on WFAN Radio Wednesday that he saw nothing to indicate that A-Rod had an injury, reports Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger.
Dr. Gross added, however, that it's "not impossible" for a clinical diagnosis injury like a Grade 1 strain to be small enough not to appear on the MRI. Chad Jennings of LoHud has Gross' full quote:
"I looked at his MRI this morning," Dr. Gross said. "(Rodriguez) asked me to look at it. I spent about 20 minutes going over it. I look particularly at his quadriceps muscle. To be perfectly honest, I don’t see any sort of injury there…
"A Grade 1 strain is a clinical diagnosis, which means you base it on the person’s symptoms and on examining them. It’s not impossible not to see much on an MRI. It’s such a small thing that you might not see it on an MRI.
"That said, I didn’t see anything."
When, after looking at the MRI, Gross asked A-Rod how he felt, the third baseman answered that he felt "100 percent," which is a slightly different answer from the one he gave over the weekend.
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Gross later spoke to McCullough on the phone and reiterated that he "saw nothing" on the MRI that indicated Rodriguez had a quad strain.
On the Prevailing Roid Rage...
Everyone has a #hottake about steroids and how they've ruined America's pastime. Most of them are steaming nonsense. But do you know who can be that disgusted?Rodriguez, 37, was scheduled to return to the Yankees' roster on Monday after his long hiatus recovering from hip surgery, but was placed back on the 15-day DL over the weekend when an MRI taken by team doctors allegedly revealed that he had strained a quad muscle.
There's still a heck of a lot here that is unknown, but the implications of Dr. Gross' finding (or lack thereof) are potentially huge. This wouldn't be the first time that doctors have disagreed on diagnoses for a player -- that's the whole point of second opinions, after all -- but given the complicated nature of Rodriguez's relationship with the Yankees and the potential lifetime ban that is awaiting him for his part in the Biogenesis scandal, it's not totally out of bounds to wonder if another scenario is at play.
Also of note: Doctors don't typically reveal test results without clearance from the patient (unless they enjoy breaking the law), so it would seem that A-Rod had some part in the reveal. We'll have more on this developing story as more information comes to light.
More from SB Nation:
• Brisbee: On the roid rage of fans and columnists ...
• A-Rod reportedly faces lifetime ban
• Soriano and A-Rod: Connected then, and maybe now
• Ryan Braun suspended for rest of season | Neyer reacts | Goldman reacts
• Cal Ripken talks to SB Nation about brawls, brains and baseball