That Padres infielder Allen Córdoba is still experiencing concussion
symptoms and has been unable to resume baseball activity six weeks after
being injured in an automobile accident is “unusual but not unheard
of,” according to a prominent neurologist.
Dr. Vernon Williams, director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain
Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, said concussions
suffered by athletes generally resolve or at least improve in 10 to 14 days.
However, Williams, who has not examined Córdoba, said the type of
concussion Cordoba may have suffered could contribute to the fact he is
still experiencing sensitivity to light and other symptoms.
Williams differentiated between the type of “linear impact”
that might give a quarterback a concussion when hitting his head on the
turf or a batter might sustain from a fastball to the helmet, and the
“rotational impact” that occurs when a boxer is hit with a
right hook or the occupant of a car might incur in a collision.
“Those rotational impacts may be more problematic than that direct
in-line linear impacts,” Williams said. “Sometimes we see
more severe symptoms and more prolonged symptoms.”
Córdoba, 22, was a Rule 5 draft pick who spent last season with
the Padres. While he is in major league camp as a member of the 40-man
roster, Córdoba had never played above rookie ball before 2017
and was slated for a return to the minors this year.
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