Alderson: Santana Re-Injures Left Shoulder, May Be Lost For The Season
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Mets announced Thursday night that left-hander Johan Santana may be lost for the season after suffering a probable re-tear of the anterior capsule in his left shoulder.
It's the same injury Santana suffered in September 2010 that, after surgery, forced him to miss the entire 2011 season.
In a quickly assembled conference call, general manager Sandy Alderson said Santana traveled back to New York on Wednesday to be examined and during a thorough evaluation the injury was detected. Alderson said season-ending surgery was a "strong possibility."
"If this diagnosis proves to be correct, I think in all likelihood Johan will be lost to the Mets for the season," he said.
Santana will take the weekend to decide what to do next, Alderson said.
Santana was suffering from weakness in the shoulder early in spring training after having not thrown during the entire offseason. He was then shut down and the hope was with time and rest he'd return at some point fairly early in the 2013 season.
"The one question I can anticipate is when or how this happened. The answer at this time is unknown," Alderson said. "We don't know when it happened, how it happened. But what we do know is at some point symptoms appeared and they worsened rather than improved."
The 34-year-old left-hander is 139-78 with a 3.20 ERA in 12 major league seasons, including the last four with the Mets. He threw the first and only no-hitter in team history last season.
He signed a six-year, $137.5 million contract with New York in 2008, which includes a $25 million team option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout.
