Rockies' Francis Undergoing Surgery: Out for Season

Jeff Francis' return to the top of the Rockies' rotation ended before it even began. The left-handed pitcher, who has been experiencing shoulder pain and missed the end of 2008 due to the injury, announced Thursday afternoon that he will undergo arthroscopic surgery and will miss 2009 in its entirety. The Rockies’ ace propelled the club to its first playoff berth in 12 seasons and first National League pennant in 2007 with 17 wins, including two postseason victories. Relying heavily on him last year, Francis struggled from April through the end, going 4-10 with a 5.01 ERA. The surgery, which will be performed in order to discover the exact nature of the injury, generally takes six to 12 months to recover. It is believed that he has a torn labrum flap in his shoulder but the operation will officially determine the injury. An unfortunate event to begin 2009 indeed, but the problem I see with this situation is that Francis waited until after he reported to Spring Training to decide that he ... (link)