Carl Crawford Undergoes Arthroscopic Procedure on Wrist, Might Not Be Ready for Opening Day

by abournenesn

Jan 17, 2012

Carl Crawford Undergoes Arthroscopic Procedure on Wrist, Might Not Be Ready for Opening DayCarl Crawford has suffered a setback heading into next season.

During a teleconference on Tuesday, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington revealed the four-time All-Star underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left wrist on Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. to clean up cartilage. His availability for Opening Day is unknown.

“We expect Carl to be recovered and hitting at some point during spring training,” Cherington said. “We’re not going to put an exact timeline on it, but we expect him to be hitting at some point during spring training and expect him to be in a position to return to play at some point very early in the season.”

Cherington said the injury occurred when Crawford “increased hitting activity” around New Year’s. After experiencing soreness on the outside of his wrist, Crawford approached hand specialist Dr. Donald Sheridan for an opinion.

When an MRI revealed damage to the cartilage, Sheridan recommended surgery and ultimately performed the procedure. Sheridan previously operated on Crawford in Aug. 2008 –- when he was with Tampa Bay — to repair a tendon problem in his right hand.

“We think this time of the year is a lot better than the end of spring training,” Cherington said. “He’s got a chance to do a lot of work, recover and be active for us for the majority of the season. Carl’s a real tough guy.”

The wrist injury plagued Crawford during parts of the 2011 season, when the outfielder had a career-low .255 batting average. But Cherington elected to allow Crawford to continue his offseason as usual because the injury “wasn’t limiting him in any significant way”.

Despite the setback, Cherington doesn’t feel the urgency to add more outfield depth. If Crawford’s isn’t healthy by Opening Day, the general manager expressed confidence in Darnell McDonald and Mike Aviles to share Crawford’s duties.

“Carl will be ready exactly when he’s ready and there’s no one who works harder than Carl,” Cherington said. “I’m confident he’ll be back and playing soon. We just don’t know exactly when.”

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