Reds starting pitcher Mat Latos had surgery to repair a tear in the meniscus of his left knee, as the team announced today. The 26-year-old right hander is expected to resume his throwing program in 10 days.
Reds’ ace Mat Latos undergoes knee surgery
He’s expected to miss 10 days, and resume his throwing program.
Mike McGinnis
Latos doesn’t appear as though he will miss any regular season playing time because of the injury, though the minor setback is likely to cost him some preparation time in the team’s pre-season activities.
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While the injury isn’t expected to cause Latos any serious problems this spring, he could be sporting a hinged knee brace sometime soon to control movement. Sometimes, surgery isn’t even considered a necessity for recovery, so it’s likely that he sustained a somewhat substantial tear. However, given the expected recovery time, the operation was more than likely a precaution than anything that should be cause for alarm.
Latos has pitched over 200 innings in each of the last two seasons and more than 180 innings every year since 2010. He's been incredibly consistent over that span as well, posting a 3.37 ERA in 96 starts for the Reds an Padres.
If Latos, or any other Reds starter, misses considerable time in 2014, the team could chose to promote prospect Robert Stephenson, bringing him along slowly as they did with Tony Cingrani last season.
Since the Reds don’t appear to be panicking about this injury, you probably shouldn’t either.
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