Gio Urshela Underwent Surgery on Bone Spur in Throwing Elbow: Reason to Worry?

Photo from The Athletic
Photo from The Athletic

Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in his right elbow. The bone spur caused a brief stint on the Injured List for Urshela last regular season.

It is expected that the Gold Glove finalist will rest for 12 weeks before beginning baseball activities. Urshela should be ready to go in the first week of March as long as there are no setbacks or new developments.

Anytime a player has to undergo surgery to heal an injury, there is concern that he might not play as well as a result. The most recent example of a prominent position player to have elbow surgery to remove bone spurs was the Atlanta Braves’ first baseman Freddie Freeman in 2018. Freeman battled bone spurs in September of that year, a month where he clubbed two home runs on the first day and then failed to hit another for the remainder of the month. Freeman had the surgery in the offseason, then continued to mash in 2019 (.295 AVG, 38 HRs, and .938 OPS). Obviously, Freeman is one of the best players in baseball, as exemplified by his MVP season in 2020, but it is worth noting how quickly he was able to perform at a high level post-surgery. Freeman has played in 218 of Atlanta’s 222 games since his elbow surgery.

The most recent Yankees position player to undergo the same surgery was outfielder Carlos Beltrán after the 2014 season. The Yankees’ team physician, Dr. Christopher Ahmad, performed Beltrán’s surgery. He performed Urshela’s as well. Beltrán struggled in 2014 when he was battling the bone spur and was limited to the designated hitter position for most of the season. He played 32 games in the field. After the surgery, Beltrán came back and hit .276 with 19 home runs in 2015 while playing 123 games in the outfield at the age of 38. He then smacked 29 home runs in an All-Star season in 2016.

These all appear to be positive signs for the Yankees’ starting third baseman. The Yankees might ask more of Urshela’s throwing arm than they did of Beltrán’s, but Gio is 29 years old and not at the back end of his career. If all goes according to plan, there should be nothing to make you believe he will not be at full strength when he is in the Opening Day lineup in 2021.

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