Red Sox C Christian Vazquez Will Have Tommy John Surgery
Published at
Joe Robbins/Getty Images(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — In what was seen as a surprise, Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, the team announced Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old Vazquez was injured during an exhibition game against the New York Yankees on March 13, while throwing out a runner who attempted to steal second base.
The catcher was given an MRI by the Red Sox medical staff, revealing ligament damage. This resulted in Vazquez meeting with Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on Wednesday. It was then decided that Dr. Andrews would perform the surgery on Vazquez in Pensacola, Florida on Thursday.
The news comes as a surprise to Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, who said earlier Wednesday that originally it didn’t seem Vaszquez’s injury was a “high-level concern.”
“Honestly when we did the MRI, we were hoping it would provide peace of mind. It obviously showed something we weren’t expecting,” Cherington said. “My initial reaction was really more for the kid. This is someone, again, who really loves baseball, he loves the position he plays, it means a lot to him to be a catcher, a catcher from Puerto Rico, a catcher for the Red Sox, all those things. So I felt for him. OK, he’s going to miss this time. He’s going to come back, and he’ll play. But I felt for him.”
Despite Vazquez being officially out, the Red Sox will not promote top catching prospect Blake Swihart. The Sox will instead use Ryan Hanigan as their No. 1 catcher and Sandy Leon as the backup.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.