Baseball - Astros’ Hector Gimenez Out With Torn Lab

25 year old Hector Gimenez has torn the labrum in his right shoulder and he might have to undergo surgery to repair it. The Astros have started their Spring Training and are not too worried with this news. They have enough backup catchers in their team though Gimenez’s injury would narrow down the options slightly when they beginning selecting their 25 man roster.

According to general manager Tim Purpura, Gimenez’s labrum injury is a long standing one and he has been rehabilitated for it a few times. Unfortunately for Gimenez, each time the injury is taking longer a repair and the results have not been as expected. Purpura further added that it was most likely that Gimenez would have to undergo a surgery to repair the tear and the doctors along with Gimenez and Purpura would have decide on it.

If Gimenez has a surgery, it would take him 3 months to return. However, a catcher needs to throw a lot to the second base, it would mean that Gimenez would be out longer than 3 months to regain the strength in his arm.

Gimenez is a switch thrower and he was all set to compete for the backup catcher position with Humberto Quintero and Eric Munson. Now the Astros would either have to settle between the two or look for more catchers in other Spring Training camps who could add depth to the team.

The Astros at the moment have no other option than put Gimenez on the Major League disabled list. Given the time he would require to recover fully, Gimenez would probably be put on a 60 day disabled list which would allow the Astros to have an additional spot when it is time for the 40 man roster.