San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)

Injury: how other MLB players recovered from hip surgery.

- By Matt Kawahara Matt Kawahara covers the A’s for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mkawahara @sfchronicl­e.com Twitter: @matthewkaw­ahara

A’s third baseman Matt Chapman doesn’t need to look far to find majorleagu­e players who have come back from hip surgery. Teammates Sean Manaea and Mark Canha both had surgery to repair a hip labrum — Manaea in 2013 and Canha in 2016. Both had their surgery performed by Dr. Marc Philippon, who will also perform Chapman’s procedure, scheduled for Monday.

Philippon, based in Vail, Colo., is generally said to have had success performing hip surgeries on such athletes as golf ’s Greg Norman, hockey’s Mario Lemieux and football’s Kurt Warner. The list of baseball players who have visited Philippon for hip surgery includes Chase Utley, Alex Gordon and Alex Rodriguez — and all returned to have at least one AllStar season. Giants catcher Buster Posey (2018) and pitcher Tim Lincecum (2015) went to Philippon for their hip surgeries.

The A’s did not provide specifics of Chapman’s right hip injury. However, agent Scott Boras told The Chronicle that Chapman will have surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Dr. Alan Zhang, an orthopedic surgeon at the UCSF Sports Medicine Center and director of the UCSF Hip Preservati­on Center, said many hip injuries in highlevel athletes are “chronic” issues that follow a similar pattern.

In growing stages, athletes can develop bone spurs that over time “start to beat up the softtissue structures in the hip like the cartilage or labrum,” Zhang said. The labrum, a ring of cartilage that encircles the hip joint and protects it, can wear down until it reaches a “tipping point” that causes the tear, he said.

“Once that happens, you don’t have that protection and you’re really feeling the bone spur rubbing the hip and starting to cause more pain,” Zhang said.

In arthroscop­ic surgery, the labrum is repaired and bone spurs are located and shaved down to try to prevent further wear. Zhang said typical recovery time is six months before resuming full sports activity; he said athletes’ ability to return to their preinjury form is “variable.”

Without knowing specifics of Chapman’s injury, Zhang said: “For a 27yearold healthy guy with an acute injury, I would expect him to do very well from this surgery.”

Here’s a quick look at some other MLB position players who have had hip surgeries performed by Philippon:

Mark Canha: May 24, 2016

Canha had surgery to repair a torn labrum and remove excess bone growth causing an impingemen­t in his left hip. He told reporters it had bothered him late the previous season and wasn’t improving with rest and rehab. Canha missed the rest of the season and returned for spring training in 2017, making the A’s Opening Day roster.

Canha has since become a fixture in the A’s lineup and one of its toughest outs. He led the team with a .396 onbase percentage last year and entered Saturday with a .390 OBP, sixth highest in the American League.

Buster Posey: Aug. 27, 2018

Posey had a labral repair and bone spurs removed in his right hip. The Giants catcher told reporters he decided to have the procedure to regain range in his hip necessary for hitting and squatting behind the plate. He returned the next spring and caught Opening Day in 2019.

Hampered in 2018 by the hip injury, Posey did not play in the AllStar Game and hit five home runs in 105 games. In 2019, he played 114 games — catching 101 — and hit a careerlow

.257 with seven home runs.

Nick Ahmed: Aug. 26, 2016

Ahmed, the Arizona shortstop, reportedly had a labral repair and a microfract­ure procedure to stimulate cartilage growth in his right hip. Despite the more involved surgery, Ahmed returned for spring training the next year. He told the Arizona Republic in 2018: “I feel explosive again.”

A decorated defender like Chapman, Ahmed saw his 2017 season cut short by other injuries but won Gold Gloves in 2018 and 2019. He had career highs last year, batting .254 with 19 homers.

Troy Tulowitzki: Aug. 15, 2014

Tulowitzki, then with the Rockies, had a torn labrum repaired and returned to start at shortstop on Opening Day in 2015. He made the AllStar team and was traded to Toronto at the deadline.

Tulowitzki said at the time he hoped the hip surgery would help end a series of leg injuries over his career. Tulowitzki hit .340 with a 1.035 OPS in 2014 before his injury. He hit .280 in 2015 and batted .263 with a .752 OPS from 2015 until his retirement in 2019 after a series of injuries.

Alex Rodriguez: March 9, 2009

Rodriguez had a torn labrum repaired in his right hip and was back playing two months later, on May 8, finishing the 2009 season with 30 home runs for the Yankees. Rodriguez also had left hip surgery in January 2013 to repair the labrum and reshape the end of his femur and returned in August. He was suspended for the 2014 season for violating MLB’s policy on performanc­eenhancing drugs.

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