NEW YORK (AP) - Mets first baseman Ike Davis might need season-ending ankle surgery if his bone bruise has not healed sufficiently in three weeks for him to resume baseball activities.
General manager Sandy Alderson said that Davis has not improved from the injury that has sidelined him since May 11. An MRI taken Wednesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York also showed cartilage damage in the left ankle.
“We’re hopeful that over the next three weeks he will progress to running. If that is not successful, then there may be some consideration about doing some surgery on the ankle. Right now I don’t see him coming back anytime soon,” Alderson said. “Basically over the next three weeks he’ll progress to hopefully running. And if he can’t tolerate the running, then we go to Plan B.”
That plan would be an operation similar to microfracture surgery, which Davis said would require three months for recovery before beginning rehabilitation. In microfracture surgery, tiny cracks are made in the bone to enhance cartilage growth. It is most commonly performed on knees.
“Obviously surgery is an athlete’s nightmare, but I’ve had one surgery _ on my wrist _ and it worked out really well and it came back better than I was before,” Davis said. “If it’s gonna get me on the field again obviously that’s something we have to do.”
Davis will shed the protective boot that he was wearing for the past three weeks in an effort to enhance circulation in the ankle. The second-year slugger and Alderson acknowledged that the boot could have hindered the healing process.
Alderson also said, “I don’t think there was any expectation the cartilage would be a major issue at this point.”
Davis was off to a strong start in his second major league season, batting .302 with seven homers and 25 RBIs before he was hurt in a collision with David Wright on May 10 while camped under a popup near the Coors Field mound.
“The reason I didn’t think I had a normal ankle sprain was because when I was spraining my ankle or rolling my ankle, David’s knee hit me in my shin and kind of made my bone force a little downward, so my tibia and talus scrapped each other or dented, and it’s not a normal area to have it get dented,” Davis said. “There’s not a lot of blood in the ankle joint, so it’s harder to heal than, say, an elbow.”
Davis tried performing baseball activities _ hitting, throwing _ in the first few days after being injured but was quickly shut down. He has not done any since then. He also has not been able to run, saying anytime he goes up or down on his toes his ankle hurts.
“Right now the damage remains significant enough that he can’t tolerate the activity,” Alderson said.
Wright, out since May 16 with a stress fracture in his lower back, will be examined Thursday. He is hoping to increase his workouts.
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