San Diego Padres Outfielder Kyle Blanks Faces Season-Ending Surgery
The San Diego Padres have not had the greatest seasons in past memories. I mean who could forget almost attaining a losing record and still making it to the playoffs in 2005. The team took a big hit Sunday when they learned that young outfielder Kyle Blanks will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times.
Once a top prospect, Blanks has been through a lot of injury during his short career with the Padres. His season ended in 2009 due to plantar fasciitis. In 2010, Blanks missed the second of half of the season and much of the first half of the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, a surgery that you usually see get done by pitchers. As always, the Padres are expecting Blanks to be healthy for next season after he injured himself April 14.
The Padres have replaced him in the lineup with veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay. Kotsay has seen time basically everywhere in Major League Baseball. He has played in 16 seasons in a career that started with the Florida Marlins and last year finished up with the Milwaukee Brewers and now with the Padres.
He has a career batting average of .278 in almost 6800 at-bats.
As for Blanks, the one highly touted prospect needs to get his career back on track. He needs to get healthy again before he finds himself without a job when his contract with the team is up.
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