Yet more disappointing news in Carl Crawford's Boston story, as he underwent arthroscopic surgery to his left wrist after complaining of pain during his offseason training regimen.
Before we start crossing "Big comeback year for Carl Crawford" off our 2012 to-do list, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal points out something promising.
Vernon Wells underwent surgery — performed by the same surgeon — to repair cartilage in his wrist in mid-November after the 2009 season. That was a season in which Wells had gotten on base at a .311 clip and slugged a career-worst .400. Wells — who admittedly had a two-month head start on Crawford in terms of recovery time — played 157 games the following season and saw his slugging percentage jump to .515.
So even if Opening Day rolls around and Crawford is behind schedule, it looks like (though obviously Wells is only one case) it may be for the best. I'd recommend not putting him out there until he is 100% comfortable and healthy so we don't have him stuck in the mud for the whole year, like he was in 2011.
Cherington told the press that there was no timetable for Carl's recovery due to the time of year and Crawford's relentless work ethic, so just file this under something to monitor as Spring Training rolls around.
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