Carlos Gonzalez injury: Rockies OF elects rest over surgery

Gonzalez has been mulling over the decision for a few weeks and had been leaning towards having an operation, but now believes that resting the injury will allow it to heal. He will not swing a bat until Dec. 1 at the earliest.

The Rockies sent Gonzalez to Arizona to test the finger out in the instructional leagues. He says the finger felt good while playing there, and he did not experience any swelling despite 14 plate appearances of work.

Were Gonzalez to have surgery, he would be unable to do anything with his finger for up to two months, then would have another month or so of rehabilitation.

If he shows no signs of healing in December, there may be no choice but to have the surgery, which could put him in danger of missing a part of spring training.

He first suffered the sprain in July, but had it recur several times over the season.

He missed a month on the DL between August and September, but was activated when rosters expanded. Despite taking batting practice occasionally, he acted solely as a defensive replacement/pinch runner in September, making Aug. 4 the last time he had a major league at-bat.

Gonzalez hit .302 with a 958 OPS, 26 home runs and 21 stolen bases over 110 games in 2013.

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