[h1]Giants 2B Sanchez to try rehab before surgery[/h1]By ANTONIO GONZALEZ, AP Sports Writer
13 hours, 46 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—The
San Francisco Giants will be without another one oftheir best hitters for a while. Maybe even the entire season.
Trainer Dave Groeschner said Sunday night that second baseman
Freddy Sanchez(notes)has a dislocated right shoulder that could require surgery and end his season.He said there also was damage to the labrum and the capsule is stretched.
Sanchez will be evaluated this week in Arizona by Dr. Gary Waslewski, whoperformed surgery on Sanchez’s left shoulder in December. The plan is to see howSanchez’s shoulder responds to rehab over the next few weeks in hopes that hecould hold off surgery until the offseason and return to the lineup.
Sanchez’s injury is the latest blow to San Francisco’s hopes of repeating asWorld Series champions.
Star catcher
Buster Posey(notes) fractured a bone in his lower left leg and torethree ligaments in his ankle in a collision with Florida’s
Scott Cousins(notes) on May25. Sanchez, the 2006 NL batting champion with Pittsburgh, was leading theGiants with a .289 average and hitting third in the lineup.
A strong defensive player, Sanchez dislocated his right shoulder Fridayagainst Cincinnati diving for a grounder up the middle. He made a backhand grabof
Brandon Phillips’(notes) sharp grounder in the fifth inning, using his right hand tobrace himself as he slid on the edge of the outfield grass.
Sanchez was on his knees and flicked the ball away with his glove as managerBruce Bochy and Gruesbeck rushed from the dugout. They had to hold his hand andarm up to brace it before trainers popped it back into place in the clubhouse.
The Giants have had 12 players on the disabled list this season. They had 13all of last season to win the franchise’s first World Series title since movingWest in 1958.
The NL West-leading Giants will get some relief in the lineup Tuesday, whenthird baseman
Pablo Sandoval(notes) rejoins the team for a three-game series at theDiamondbacks. San Francisco optioned
Conor Gillaspie(notes) to Triple-A Fresno after a4-2 win over the Reds on Sunday to clear space.
