The Rockies will lose another star player for the remainder of a miserable 2014 season as outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is scheduled to have surgery on the patella tendon in his left knee, the team announced on Thursday night.
Carlos Gonzalez to have left knee surgery, out for season
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez joined teammate Troy Tulowitzki in having his season shut down this week, with season-ending surgery pending. Gonzalez will have surgery on his left patella tendon on Monday in Colorado.
Duane Burleson
The surgery will be performed on Monday in Colorado by Rockies assistant team physician Dr. Tom Hackett. Recovery is expected to take five to six months for Gonzalez, who is expected to be ready for spring training, per Cody Ulm of MLB.com.
Gonzalez is the second cornerstone player for the Rockies to shut down his season this week. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip on Friday in Colorado.
It has been an injury-plagued season for Gonzalez, who has missed time in 2014 with left index finger inflammation that required surgery and a right ankle sprain in addition to left knee patella tendinitis.
Gonzalez hit .238/.292/.431 for a 90 OPS+ with 11 home runs in 70 games in 2014. That’s a far cry from his 2010-2013 average of .311/.370/.556, a 133 OPS+ and 27 home runs from 2010-2013. The two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner has played 130 games in a season just twice in his career.
The Rockies won 92 games in 2009 and made the playoffs as the National League Wild Card team, but they haven’t returned to the postseason since thanks in part to their two biggest stars being so fragile.
From 2010-2014, Gonzalez has averaged 117 games per season and Tulowitzki just 106 games played per year. Colorado averaged 89 losses for the last four years, and at 47-74 (.388) are on pace for a franchise-worst 99 losses in 2014.
Gonzalez, 28, has three years and $53 million remaining on his seven-year contract signed in January 2011.
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