TUCSON — A wait-and-see season has arrived for Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis.
He underwent arthroscopic surgery Wednesday morning at the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Greenwood Village to fix his left shoulder. Team medical director Dr. Tom Noonan repaired Francis’ labrum and also cleaned up fraying tissue in his rotator cuff, a procedure called debridement.
“It’s not an uncommon injury for pitchers,” said Dr. James Gladstone, an orthopedic surgeon and specialist in sports medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. “It’s not done to repair a torn rotator cuff or tendons.”
The Rockies said there is no timetable for Francis’ return, though Francis said before the surgery that he expected to be out six months to a year and would likely miss the entire 2009 season.
“It’s too early to speculate on when he might be back,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said.
Francis, 28, went 4-10 with a 5.01 ERA in 24 starts for the Rockies in 2008.
