MARIANO RIVERA: MOVING TOWARD A COMEBACK?

Last Monday Mariano Rivera threw off of flat ground! (Read HERE) Now that's great news, but don’t rejoice just yet, Yankees fans. Why? I'll tell you...

Let's start from the beginning.  Back on May 3rd Mo tore his ACL while shagging fly balls in Kansas City. Remember that devastating day? It was pretty obvious from that point on Mo would be out for the season. Look, recovery from a torn ACL takes up to nine months to heal.

Still, all we kept hearing was Mariano Rivera was working toward coming back in 2012... he was pretty optimistic, until he wasn't.  According to Dan Martin at the New York Post, Mo said this: “I want to pitch now, but that doesn’t mean I will come back this year. It’s that 1 percent we have to hope. ... But at the same time you cannot push it. If you push it, you’ll make a mistake. Instead of pitching this year, you won’t pitch again next year. I have to be wise and make sure I do the right thing.”

Look, that quote isn't only smart, it's unselfish.  Bottom line, Mo doesn't want to come back, hurt himself again which in turn could hurt the team and possibly their chances.  Why not wait it out, watch Rafael Soriano mold into our permanent closer for 2012 and look to 2013 for Mariano Rivera to return.  Hey, it's a great idea, as much as we love Mo, why rush it?

Plus, I think Cashman made it very clear when he called Mo’s doctor unprofessional for having allowed Mo to believe that he had any chance of return this season. Read that HERE. And again, it’s better this way. Doing too much during the rehabilitation period can cause the ligament to fail again. I know we, as fans, get excited by news on Mo, but we got to be realistic about this one. None of us want for him to do too much too soon and re-injur himself. Plus, we're in good hands, it's not like we're out a closer, right? RaSo already racked up 30 saves this season.  I love that.

So what does Mo throwing off of flat ground on Monday mean? That his rehabilitation is going well. Is he moving toward a comeback? Yes. This year? No...he is still a long way off. There is absolutely no chance of him coming back this season. And that’s okay.

Get well soon Mo and come back next season stronger then ever. We’ll patiently wait for Enter Sandman to be played.

--Erica Morales, BYB Writer
Twitter: @e_morales1804



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