Free-agent righthander Rich Harden will miss the entire 2012 season after having shoulder surgery last week, MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reports.
The procedure repaired a torn capsule in his shoulder and is similar to the surgery that has sidelined New York Mets ace Johan Santana since September of 2010. Harden told Gammons that he opted to have the operation after five years of “always being hurt.”
Harden told the San Francisco Chronicle that he suffered the injury in April of 2007 and has pitched in pain since then. He blames the injury for a drop in velocity and other physical problems.
“If you look at those injuries, that’s definitely where they came from,” Harden told the newspaper. “Yes, I’ve been injured a lot, but nobody really knew what I’d been dealing with for five years. Every day, just to play catch, I had to re-train my body to throw. I was pushing the ball. I’d start the game throwing 86-87 mph and that was max effort.”
The Hot Stove crew breaks down the injury and talk about the future of Rich Harden.
