The St. Louis Cardinals will be starting off the season without their starting shortstop. Rafael Furcal suffered a torn ligament in his elbow and will now require Tommy John surgery in an effort to repair it. The team made the announcement Thursday. Furcal is expected to miss the entire season.
Furcal was not expected to be healthy by the start of the season, but the Cardinals were not expecting to miss him for the entire season. He has been suffering discomfort in his elbow for most of the year. He visited Dr. James Andrews to get an updated diagnoses, it was there that Andrews decided Tommy John surgery was necessary.
Furcal attempted to come back and make his spring training debut, but was told he must stop all baseball activities instead. Furcal suffered the injury last August, but an MRI in November had shown the elbow had improved and he would not need surgery. Furcal re-injured his elbow during spring training practice and an MRI revealed severe inflammation. The Cardinals had decided not to invest in a new shortstop during the offseason after Furcal had originally shown improvement.
Losing Furcal is a big hit to the team. Last season, Furcal batted .264 with 69 runs and 49 RBI. He is a career .281hitter. At 35, a severe elbow injury like this could put his career at risk. The Cardinals have two in-house options to replace Furcal if they cannot pick someone up by Opening Day. Ronny Cedeno is a veteran, hitting .247 with a .290 on-base percentage in 779 games. Pete Kozma played well after stepping into the lineup for Furcal last season. However, his numbers in the minors have not been impressive. He batted a .223 average with a .610 OPS at Triple A.
The Cardinals could try and pick up a free agent of try and trade minor league prospects for someone. The injury could have been prevented. Furcal opted not to undergo the procedure immediately after the 2012 season. If he had, he would be on pace to return after the 2013 All-Star break. Instead he will be out for some time now with St. Louis unprepared to replace him. Furcal is expected to be out six to eight months while rehabbing the injury.