Last Updated on May 25, 2007 5:30 pm by admin
ATLANTA (AP) -Braves reliever Mike Gonzalez will miss the rest of the season and at least half of 2008 after learning he must have reconstructive elbow surgery.
Gonzalez, placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 16 with a left elbow strain, said Friday he has a small tear in a ligament below his left elbow.
The tear was discovered in an MRI exam in New York on Thursday by New York Mets medical director Dr. Dave Altchek, the specialist who has operated twice on the elbow of Braves left-hander Mike Hampton.
“This is the worst news you can get,” Gonzalez said.
Braves manager Bobby Cox said he hopes Gonzalez can return by the middle of the 2008 season. The normal recovery time for pitchers is at least a year.
A MRI exam in Atlanta did not reveal a serious problem, but the Braves and Gonzalez remained concerned after an unusually sharp drop in his velocity.
“I hadn’t thrown 82 (miles per hour) since high school,” Gonzalez said. “I was feeling something uncomfortable. You just don’t drop 10 or 15 miles per hour.”
Cox said he suspected Gonzalez had a serious problem, based on the manager’s experience with other players found to require elbow ligament-replacement surgery.
“It’s always bothered him a little bit but no pain, most of the time,” Cox said. “You have no pain with that a lot of time. Then you have pain, then you have none. And you can’t figure out why I dropped off in velocity because I don’t have any pain.
“So there was always a little suspicion there that he might have that. It just wasn’t showing up right.”
Gonzalez said he has received encouragement from other pitchers who have had the operation, including Braves ace John Smoltz.
“You see his success,” Gonzalez said.
No date has been set for the surgery, but Gonzalez expects to have the procedure next week.
“I’m not down in the dumps or anything,” Gonzalez said, adding he is bracing for a long rehabilitation.
“I’m going to go out there and be as aggressive through this as I am with the hitters.”
Gonzalez, obtained by the Braves in an offseason trade that sent first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Pittsburgh Pirates, was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and two saves in 18 games this season.
Gonzalez saved 24 games for the Pirates last season and was serving as a setup reliever for Braves closer Bob Wickman.