Thoughts on Dontrelle Willis
By Blake VandeBunte • Mar 30th, 2009 • Category: 2009 Season, Dontrelle WillisWord came down yesterday that Dontrelle Willis will start the season on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder. Since this is not exactly a common issue, the Tigers had to get permission from Major League Baseball to place Willis on the DL with such an ailment. There had been rumblings for sometime that Willis’ struggles were between the ears rather than in his arm or his knees. Hopefully for Dontrelle, this is the first step in getting his career back on track.
Here are some thoughts from around the web on Willis:
- Detroit Free Press: The saga of Dontrelle Willis’ tenure with the Tigers assumed a different tone Sunday after the left-hander was placed on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder.
- The condition, however, is psychiatric in nature. According to the Web site of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, the disorders “develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality and life events.”
- The Tigers purchase disability insurance on long-term player contracts, and it’s believed that they did so when Willis signed a three-year, $29-million extension in December 2007. Dombrowski declined to answer a question about the team’s policy on Willis, saying, “We do not discuss our insurance policy information on our players.”
- Detroit News: Dontrelle Willis said Sunday that blood tests led doctors to diagnose his anxiety disorder, which has placed him on the disabled list. But doctors interviewed Sunday expressed doubt that the Tigers left-hander could have drawn such a conclusion by way of blood work.
- “There’s no anxiety disorder, no psychiatric disorders, which are diagnosed by blood tests,” said Parsons, who explained that anxiety might be a symptom of a medical situation identified by blood work, such as a thyroid condition. “But (anxiety) would not be the disorder itself. Only a symptom.”
- Bless You Boys: I can’t even pretend to speculate what sort of anxiety disorder would show up in a blood test, nor would I really care to. I’m sure this will only add to the belief among many that whatever is behind Willis’s struggles since coming to Detroit is a mental issue. But without an exact explanation of the malady (one we may never get, by the way), who can say for certain? Regardless of the reason, the plight of the D-Train continues to become more curious and more troublesome.
- Detroit Tigers Weblog: This seemingly means that Willis can stay on the DL indefinitely. The trick is that there are limits to rehab assignments. So while he can be on the DL to work through these issues, he has limited time to demonstrate a recovery. This is a very sad story for Willis and I wish him the best.
- Mack Avenue Tigers: Some surprise that Dontrelle Willis, too, was placed on the disabled list. The reason given was “anxiety disorder,” which brings up images of Rick Ankiel for some, and Zach Greinke for others. Honestly, I don’t know what to think on that one. By the quotes he gave reporters, I’m not sure he knows what to make of it, either.
- Tiger Tales: How treatable it actually is and how much of his pitching problems are caused by the disorder remain to be seen. Still, the fact that they found something and that they believe it is treatable is good news. Nothing will happen right away of course, but this gives us some hope that he can perhaps turn his career around.
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