Surgery for Chris Owings

The above video, from June 20, depicts the incident which apparently did the damage, Chris Owings sliding awkwardly into home in an effort to score from first on a ball off the wall in center. The damage didn't initially appear too severe, and he started again after being left out of the line-up for three games. But the shoulder still bothered Owings, especially when he swung, and manager Kirk Gibson said on the 28th, "It doesn't seem like he's getting much better. I don't think he's comfortable with it. He can play if we get into an emergency situation. Unless that happens, he won't play," and Owings went on the DL the following day.

At the time, the injury was diagnosed as a left shoulder sprain. He missed 56 games, and came back to the team at the start of September, alongside fellow rehabbee, A.J. Pollock. However, Owings still didn't seem right, batting .208/.256/.236 the rest of the season, and sitting out the final series against the Cardinals entirely. He had another MRI on Tuesday, and a consultation with noted specialist Dr. James Andrews revealed the damage and need for an operation. That will take place on Thursday, with Dr. Andrews wielding the scalpel - I guess it will make a nice change for him, from all those Tommy John procedures.

Owings hopes it will have no effect on his off-season process, and according to the Republic's Nick Piecoro, thinks he should be able to start hitting in January on his normal schedule. I think questions do have to be raised about the team's medical process that led to the misdiagnosis, which seems to have persisted through the entire two months of rehab. "I never knew that it was a labrum issue the whole time," said the player. The good news is, Dr. Andrews did not think any additional damage was done due to playing through the injury - given Owings' importance to any bounceback for Arizona in 2015, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that is indeed the case.