One player I’ve brought up on a couple of occasions is Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore. When Sizemore came on the scene in 2005 as the Tribe’s leadoff hitter, it was due to an injury to Juan Gonzalez. He remained in that role until the September of 2009. His baseball career has spent more time in rehabbing from various injuries and surgeries than on the baseball field.
A bit of background on Sizemore. He was drafted in the third round by the Montreal Expos in 2000. The Expos offered Sizemore $2 million to forgo a college career and join their organization. While in the Expos system, Sizemore was traded to the Indians. The names involved in this trade might spin your head. The Indians received Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens and sent Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew to the Expos. Would you not say the Tribe got the better end of that deal? On paper, yes.
From 2005 to 2008, there wasn’t a center fielder that was better than Sizemore. In each season, he racked up at least 20 HR and 20 SB. He also scored at least 100 runs in each of those seasons. In fact, 2007 saw Sizemore draw 101 walks. During this same timespan, Grady was selected to three All-Star Games, received two Gold Gloves and one Silver Slugger.
Then 2009 arrived. Sizemore had made a commitment for the World Baseball Classic. He had to withdraw due to what was believed to be a groin injury. It was clearly a bothersome issue as Sizemore struggled not only with the groin, but also an elbow issue. Septemeber of that year saw Sizemore elect to end his season (and prep for 2010) and have elbow surgery. A week later, Sizemore went under the knife yet again to repair a hernia related to the groin injury.
So things should be better for 2010, right? Couldn’t have gone more wrong. After only 33 games, Sizemore would have microfracture surgery, thus ending his 2010 season.
Ah, microfracture surgery. We associate that more with NBA players. Some have recovered well (Amar’e Stoudemire), others have not (Jamal Mashburn). Others have more than one procedure (Greg Oden, once on each knee).
If you’re unfamiliar with the process of microfracture, you need to be a bit versed on it in order to understand the trail Sizemore is currently taking.
What the procedure involves is the creation of new cartilage in the knee. A doctor, through arthroscopic means, creates new “fractures” around the knee in order to create blood clots. The clots are an important step as they are derived from the marrow and blood within the bone. The blood and marrow contain stem cells that will eventually create the new cartilage.
But there is one thing. The cartilage that is created (referred to as fibrocartilage) is not as durable as the cartilage that was “replaced” (hyaline cartilage). Fibrocartilage is a denser cartilage, with less mechanical workability, and unable to withstand the everyday pounding that hyaline cartilage could endure. There are current studies that suggest an alternate form of cartilage replacement aside from microfracture surgery.
The most important part is the recovery. The patient must be just that, patient. Crutches and a knee brace are not beyond a possibility. In fact, the patient will be on crutches for at least 6 weeks. The knee brace will be brought into play for further stability.
To make things a little fuzzier for Sizemore’s future, the success rate is about 75 to 80 percent. Some will return to their previous “for” while others will not. Best case is a four month period of recovery. This is related to the amount of stem cells that are produced. Four months is considered a bit aggressive. More time is usually needed in order to properly recover.
So if we look at when Sizemore had the procedure performed and where he is today.
He underwent the surgery around the beginning of June in 2010. It’s been eight months since. And Sizemore’s journey to return to the Indians as a full-time player is slowly coming closer into view. But that one word keeps cropping up in his process of returning to the field…patience. Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer paints us a picture of what Sizemore is doing while in Goodyear.
"“Sizemore, under Soloff’s (the Indians trainer) supervision, will start position specific agility drills — cutting, stopping, starting, etc. — this week. They will simulate what Sizemore would do in center field. Until now, he has run only in a straight line with no cutting.”"
Sizemore still has been unable to do any type of drill where a change of direction has been implemented. That should tell you how delicate the situation really is. Eight months (maybe even more as Hoynes says nine) after the surgery and he has yet to test any type of “cut”.
What about playing time? He needs that, right? Sizemore tells of his Arizona “schedule”.
"“I’m not scheduled to start playing games until the third week of March,” said Sizemore on Wednesday morning. “And that will be after not playing for nine months.”"
He’ll need not only time to evaluate the knee, but his other baseball skills. Hitting, throwing, running, just thinking about the game.
The chances of Sizemore remaining in Arizona to continue the rehab is a likely step that the Indians should take. Not so sure I would expose him to the unpredictable northern Ohio spring weather. And as Hoynes states, no one knows how Siezemore’s knee feels other than Sizemore. You have to take him at his word and Sizemore has been patient with the whole process. He knows his limits and he’s aware of the risks and rewards. Those rewards will be met only with the patience he’s currently displaying.
No question Indians baseball has not been the same without Sizemore in the lineup. The Indians do hope to have him back, but opening day is not the goal.
Just having him back is.
Besides being a staff writer for Call to the Pen, Steve Engbloom is also the lead writer for Blog Red Machine, FanSided’s home for coverage of the Cincinnati Reds.