Outfielder Endy Chavez doesn’t have many reasons to smile these days.
After all, he has been on crutches for the better part of three weeks. His knee was aching and swollen to the size of a watermelon after his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments were shredded in a June 19 collision with Yuniesky Betancourt. Recovery time from the surgery he needs probably means he won’t be able to participate in drills until after next season begins.
And yet Chavez maneuvered his way through the clubhouse sporting the same wide smile that never seemed to leave his face from the first day he showed up at spring training.
“He’s tremendous,” Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. “I saw him today, grinning ear to ear. … It’s what we loved about him when we first got him – the energy he brings and the smile he brings to the clubhouse every day.”
One of the reasons for Chavez’s joy was that the swelling is down and range of motion is up enough for him to have surgery. He’s scheduled to go under the knife on Thursday.
“He said he’d like to have it today so he can start to expedite this whole thing,” Wakamatsu said.
Chavez is also happy the pain he felt in the knee has subsided substantially. There’s some discomfort but nothing compared to the days after he was injured.
“It was unbelievable,” he said of the initial pain. “I knew something was wrong because it was so painful that I couldn’t even move my leg. I knew something was wrong in there. The pain was terrible. Now it’s just uncomfortable because you can’t do anything with it.”
As for the play itself, there was some debate as to whether Chavez tried to call off Betancourt since the outfielder takes precedence over the infielder in that situation. But Chavez was adamant.
“No, no, no,” he said when asked if he had called his teammate off. “When I saw the ball, I got it in my mind to dive for it. I saw Yuni at the last (second) and I said I’m not going to dive for it now. I tried to stop but I can’t get out of the way in time. So I tried to catch the ball and prepare myself to get hit. The next thing I found out I was in the air.”
Chavez was placing no blame on either party involved.
“That’s part of the game,” he said. “I know we were playing hard and Yuni attacks the ball pretty good, too. There’s no way he can call me off and no way I can call him off. It’s something that happens in the game. It’s something you are not expecting. But it’s in the air and anything can happen in baseball games.”
Really, Chavez is tired of looking back at the play and ready to move forward.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s something I have to go through and get ready to get back.”
As for his recovery, he doesn’t have a specific date in mind when he should be ready.
“They say it just depends how the surgery goes and how my body reacts to it,” he said. “It’s going to be around like nine to 12 months.”
The team is hoping it will be closer to nine than 12, but they know it’s never certain with these injuries.
“I know it’s going to be a long and fairly drawn out process,” Wakamatsu said. “But we wish him the best.”
Short hops
Betancourt, who is progressing nicely from his strained hamstring, took part in pregame drills Monday. He’ll also do additional drills today before possibly heading out on a rehab assignment. Wakamatsu is being cautious, saying the Mariners probably won’t activate Betancourt until after the All-Star break. … Back spasms make Mike Sweeney’s playing status day-to-day. … Left-hander Erik Bedard will be on a pitch count of 70 to 75 in his start today. … Expect All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to get a day off sometime this homestand, which actually means he’ll DH and not play the field.
On tap
The second game of the three-game set, starting at 7:10 tonight, features left-hander Erik Bedard (5-2, 2.47 ERA) returning from the disabled list to make his first start since June 7. The Orioles will send right-hander and Oregon native Jeremy Guthrie (6-8, 5.20 ERA) to the mound. The game will be broadcast on FSN, 1240-AM and 1030-AM.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
blogs.thenewstribune.com/mariners
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