Alex Rodriguez Undergoes Successful Surgery
By Editorial Staff
After weighing his options, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez underwent successful surgery Monday to repair a slight meniscus tear in his right knee.
Rodriguez decided to go through with the surgery this weekend after debating what the best course of action would be for his injury. His other option would be to simply play through the discomfort as he had been doing.
Though it may have appeared that Rodriguez was doing just fine this season, when you take a closer look at the numbers you can see how the knee was really impacting his performance. The original injury occurred June 19th and since then A-Rod hasn’t been able to go yard for the Yankees. Rodriguez could only muster a .290 slugging percentage over his 7 games played in July.
The three time MVP is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks after the surgery. New York hopes Rodriguez will be back to the player they know he can be upon his return.
To replace Rodriguez at third base, the Yankees will turn to a familiar fill-in. Eduardo Nunez will again be called on to step in for a Yankee veteran. Nunez played shortstop while Derek Jeter was nursing his sore calf and will get most of the looks at the hot corner while A-Rod is recovering from surgery.
On the year Nunez has put up a line of .279/.318/.434 in 51 games with the Yankees. His bat has come alive of late, as the 24 year old is 9 for his last 15 with 4 doubles and a home run.
The Yankees’ largest concern regarding Nunez is his defense or lack-there-of. He’s already committed 9 errors as a shortstop, and that’s the position he primarily played as a minor leaguer. It will be interesting to see how Nunez fits in defensively at third.
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