Alex Rodriguez, who struggled in a big way for the New York Yankees in the playoffs, was dealing with a hip injury that will require a second surgery in January that will keep him at least half the upcoming season.
The arthoscopic surgery to his left hip will repair a torn labrum, bone impingement and the correction of a cyst, the Yankees said in a release. The team said Rodriguez, 37, will be out up to six months.
Before surgery, Rodriguez will undergo “pre-rehabilitaion” for four-t-six weeks and then have the surgery at The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York under the knife of Dr. Bryan Kelly.
After four to six weeks of pre-rehabilitation, he will have the surgery, which will be performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. In 2009, Rodriguez had his right hip repaired.
The Yankees said the surgery on his left hip “will be similar but not identical” to the procedure he had in 2009 on his right hip.
A source told ESPN that Rodriguez complained of hip troubles during the playoffs. After the infamous ALCS Game 1, when Rodriguez annoyed Yankees officials by flirting with a woman in the stands during the loss, Rodriguez went to the hospital to have an MRI on his surgically repaired right hip. It checked out fine. He eventually was taken out of the lineup because of lack of production.
During a recent checkup, however, d, the surgeon who performed the original procedure on his torn labrum, discovered the new injury in his left hip.
The surgery is not expected to be career-threatening. It could help to explain Rodriguez’s 0-for-18 performance with 12 strikeouts in the playoffs. Rodriguez ended up being benched.
“Both doctors believe that there is a very strong possibility that Rodriguez’s hip condition may have had a negative effect on his performance during the latter stages of the season and the playoffs,” the Yankees said.
The first hip injury was diagnosed shortly after Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in 2009. He finished off that season with an epic October and his first World Series ring.
Rodriguez finished the 2012 season with a .272 average, 18 homers and 57 RBIs in 122 games. His OPS was .783, which was the lowest since his first full season back in 1995
