Grady Sizemore Out 8-12 Weeks Following Back Surgery

No Sizemore’s are safe.  First, Oakland A’s third baseman Scott Sizemore suffered a season ending knee injury.  Yesterday it was reported that Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore required back surgery that will sideline him for the next two to three months.

The Indians described the surgery as a minimally invasive procedure on Sizemore’s lower back.  It was the latest in the long line of ailments that have troubled Sizemore over the past several seasons.

Sizemore was actually in the process of recovering from another injury when he sustained his most recent setback.  While in the process of rehabbing a knee injury that caused him to miss significant time last season, Sizemore tweaked his back during routine outfield drills.  After the discomfort worsened, Sizemore stopped participating in baseball related activities altogether.

With the start of the regular season only a month away, missing two to three months is bad enough.  However, because Sizemore’s dealing with a back injury, it’s hard to gauge a true timeframe for his return.

The Indians have indicated that they are likely to replace Sizemore in center field with Michael Brantley.  Initially penciled in as Cleveland’s everyday left fielder for 2012, Brantley manned center for 65 and 52 games in 2010-11.

At this point it’s just become sad to watch Sizemore be forced to succumb to debilitating injury after debilitating injury.  Once considered one of the best young center fielders in the sport, Sizemore has been limited to 104 games over the past two seasons.  Though he still sports a career OPS of .830, injuries have caused the 29-year-old’s numbers at the plate and performance in the field to diminish over the past three seasons.

Hopefully Sizemore will be able to return to the level of play many were accustomed to during his successful stretch from 2005-08.  However, as the injuries continue to mount, it’s hard to say if we will ever see the same Grady Sizemore again.

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