Adam LaRoche had surgery this morning to repair what proved to be a sizable tear of the labrum inside his left shoulder, a procedure that will sideline the Nationals first baseman the rest of the season but should give him enough time to fully recover before spring training.Club orthopedist Wiemi Douoguih performed the surgery at Washington Hospital Center, repairing a "SLAP" tear, which is a significant tear of the labrum inside the shoulder socket. Several Nationals players have had the same injury in recent years, including Cristian Guzman and Jesus Flores. Each missed at least a full season following surgery.
Though the precise severity of the injury was unknown until Douoguih was able to operate today, the news of it didn't come as a big surprise. LaRoche had known he had a large tear since undergoing an MRI three weeks ago and landing on the disabled list.
Doctors told the veteran first baseman he could try rest and rehab for a couple of weeks and see if the condition improved enough to allow him to finish the season. But after attempting to throw and swing a
Read more
13 comments:
I give Adam a lot of credit for trying to play through that to the detriment of his numbers, which players usually guard jealously. Not sure how to think about the worsening of the tear after following doctor's advice that he could play with it.
I hope that he makes a full recovery and is in the lineup for us next year.
I'm rooting for him to make a .Full recovery before he comes back, no matter ow long it takes. They brought Jesus back too early and he was damaged by it.
I'm sure he's as frustrated by this as all of us. I wish him a speedy and full recovery.
Interestingly, none of the "premier" 1B free agents from last off season are doing well in 2011.
Nats Fan in NJ... Good observation. Fortunately, there's one guy who plays outfield AND first base who is tearing up the league. And he is ours.
"For whatever it's worth, the MRI in spring training had a small tear," he said. "The recent MRI had a very large tear. So that's got to make me believe that going out and playing, it just got worse and worse and finally got to the point where we are now."
Excellent endorsement for the Nats' training staff.
"Excellent endorsement for the Nats' training staff."
The training staff didn't tell him to keep playing. He made that decision on his own. He was no doubt told by Dr. Wiemi Douoguih Howser M.D. that this was the risk he was taking, and he chose to take the risk - as pretty much any player would do in the same situation. There is absolutely nothing that the training staff, the doctors, the front office or the manager could have done to have this situation turn out differently.
It's "Way-EE-mee Doo-OH-ghee"
Just sayin.
Good surgeon, btw.
"So that's got to make me believe that going out and playing, it just got worse and worse and finally got to the point where we are now."
Maybe. Maybe not.
Well we wish Adam the best.
As for Rizzo and Co., they knew about this before ST. Either that, or they need to recalibrate their imaging procedures.
The whole scope of this event is kind of ridiculous. Learners must be wondering where there money is going.
There is absolutely nothing that the training staff, the doctors, the front office or the manager could have done to have this situation turn out differently.
You know, except for putting him on the DL when it was apparent that his shoulder was affecting his game.
The fact that he had to frequently sit out games in Spring Training says all you need to know. His shoulder was negatively impacting him, therefore, they should have learned from past experience and realized this wasn't one of those injuries you play through. The Nats botched this injury like they've done with others (see: Ryan Zimmerman, Jesus Flores, etc).
Thanks for the great D with a barking shoulder, Adam. Hope to see you good as new next spring.
I really hate to say it, but this team is a lot better without LaRoche's weak bat in the lineup. I hope all his issues were injury related and he comes back strong next year. Bt I'm not so sure.
He's Brian Lawrence, redux.
Post a Comment