Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Harrison started opening day for the Texas Rangers this season. But after just two starts, he was put on the disabled list with some back pain. It turns out that back pain stemmed from a herniated disk in his lower back which required surgery, which he had on April 23 and was fine for a week or two.
Originally, Harrison was expected to be back around or just after the All-Star break in late July, but that has been pushed back.
The hurler started to feel discomfort in his back once again and had an MRI, which showed that there was more herniation in the same disc and that Harrison would require a second surgery if he wanted to pitch again.
Harrison was quoted on the Rangers official website as saying that he “felt great” after the second surgery. But what we all need to remember before we get to excited about that response is that he felt very good for about the first 10 days after the first one, too.
The silver lining of this second surgery is that without any more setbacks, the Rangers expect Harrison to pitch again this season, even though it looks like he won’t be back until late August at the earliest.
I would like to be optimistic and think that Harrison will be back in August, but back surgeries are nothing to take lightly. When someone has two of them in one year, I just assume there will be some type of complication. I would love it if Harrison came back this year, but I think he won’t be back until the 2015 season.
