A.J. Ellis has knee surgery, expected to start rehab next week
Some player injuries are discussed like they’re being prepared for a medical journal. Daily updates, additional medical opinions, latest X-rays.
And some just aren’t discussed at all?
Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis had left knee arthroscopic surgery on Friday, which seemed to be news to most everyone but his doctor and wife, who first announced it on Twitter on Sunday.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed what the Dodgers called on Monday -- following this? -- a cleanup procedure and said they expect him to begin rehabbing the knee next week, begin his normal training routine in six weeks and be ready to start the 2013 season.
There was no mention of Ellis battling knee problems during the season. But the Dodgers said he sustained tears to his medial and lateral meniscus, which ElAttrache “debrided” in a half-hour procedure at Kerlan Jobe.
Debridement is a suddenly popular word in the Dodgers PR department, a medical term for surgically removing bad tissue. They can’t pull this off somewhere on Juan Uribe?
Ellis seemed almost to win the Dodgers’ starting catcher spot last season as a combination of his perseverance and Frank McCourt living on the cheap.
He became one of their great finds of 2012, not only playing well defensively as expected, but hitting with some power (13 homers, 52 RBI) and providing the team with some badly needed leadership.
Ellis did hit a rough patch in early September (4 for 39), which was attributed to his catching more games than he ever had in his career, but now you have to wonder if it wasn’t because of his knee.
However, he did finish 10 for 27 with 10 RBI in his final 10 games. And that was pre-debridement.
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