New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez had a rough end to the season after slumping in the playoffs, but his first step to recovery begins today.
Rodriguez is set to undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair his left hip, a procedure that will keep him out for up to six months. He is likely to return to the Yankees at midseason after rehabilitation from the surgery.
The surgeon, Dr. Brian Kelly, spoke in a conference call about the upcoming procedure and said that he could not know how much damage has occurred in the hip until he gets inside the operating room. The procedure is expected to take up to two hours.
"I like to tell people six months is a reasonable time frame for return to play when we're doing the procedure we're discussing with a bone correction," Kelly said. "Optimistically speaking, what we're hoping for is for him to be able to return after the All-Star break."
The injury to Rodriguez's hip was found in November and likely was a main reason why the likely future Hall of Famer struggled during the postseason, going just 3-for-25 (.120) with 12 strikeouts against the Orioles and Tigers.
According to Kelly, Rodriguez was unable to properly rotate his hips, taking away some of the power and explosiveness of his swing. Rodriguez has been following a strict prehabilitation regimen to strengthen the hip, while reducing inflammation, according to MLB.com.
"Operating earlier actually will frequently result in a more prolonged recovery afterwards, because it takes longer for the muscles to respond and recover from the surgery," Kelly said, according to MLB.com.
Many in the media speculated that the injury was caused by past steroids use, but Kelly quashed that idea.
"His hip was formed like that from the age of 15. It doesn't change its shape after that," Kelly said. "In that respect, this has nothing to do with performance-enhancing drugs."
According to MLB.com, the procedure will place an anchor into the top of the hip to reattach the torn labrum, the femoral head will be shaved to a rounder shape to provide greater range of motion, and cartilage damage will be repaired if possible. The last time Rodriguez had surgery on his hip, it was the opposite side and it was done by Vail, Colo.-based specialist Dr. Marc Philippon before the 2009 season.
"Dr. Kelly has got a great reputation," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "I have full confidence that between the operating physician and the patient, whose work ethic is legendary, that this will all work out over time.
Rodriguez had an awful run through the playoffs last season and was benched multiple times after hitting .120 with three hits in seven games and going 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts during a stretch for the Yankees.
The perennial All-Star last underwent hip surgery in 2009, after which he helped carry the Yankees to a World Series championship. He hit .365, with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 15 games during that postseason and the Yankees are hoping this surgery will have a similar effect to that one did.
Rodriguez is one of the greatest home run hitters of all-time, but has been slowed in recent years due to age and injuries. He has 647 career home runs and has numerous incentives written into his contract that pay out bonuses if he makes it to the record of 762, which is held by Barry Bonds.
The third baseman admitted to taking steroids during his career in 2009, then proceeded to have a great regular season, hitting .286 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs while leading the Yankees to the World Series. The past two seasons he has only hit 34 home runs in 221 combined games and has struck out 194 times.
The Yankees overcame a serious injury to Mariano Rivera last season, but the team had a high-priced player in Rafael Soriano waiting in the wings.
Brian Cashman signed Kevin Youkilis as a free agent to help with the loss of Rodriguez. Other options at third base include Jayson Nix, who played the majority of third base while Rodriguez was out last season, and also Eduardo Nunez, who has experience at third, but is more of a natural shortstop. The Yankees are also dealing with the major ankle injury to shortstop Derek Jeter, but all reports point to a full recovery and that he should be ready for opening day.
