Prado’s season in doubt
Storm-related loss of rehab time could cost infielder a return
SunSentinel.com /marlins
MIAMI — Martin Prado evacuated from South Florida to Orlando in advance of Hurricane Irma, thinking it would allow him better opportunity to continue rehabilitating his surgically repaired right knee as he tries to get back on the field before the Miami Marlins’ season ends.
That didn’t happen. Irma hit Orlando at least as hard as it hit Miami, and Prado said he missed about a week of what would have been on-field ramping-up baseball activity.
“It’s kind of like I came back to zero,” Prado said.
Still, Prado and the Marlins have not given up hope that the third baseman will be able to return in some capacity in the next two weeks.
Manager Don Mattingly said there is value in even a cameo — a pinch-hit appearance, say, or a partial game after a double-switch — because it sends a player into the offseason having seen game action after his injury.
But Prado, who described himself as “not a guy who wants to be out there at 50 percent,” wants to be at full strength or at least something close to it.
“I’d love to get back on the field if I was in his spot just to know that I’m ready to go and I go into a normal winter,” Mattingly said. “But with that, I don’t want to put him out there unless he’s comfortable with it.”
Said Prado: “I don’t think it’s professional to put myself out there and not perform the