Hip surgery: With Matt Chapman’s hip repair Monday, Mark Canha recalls own surgery.
With third baseman Matt Chapman undergoing surgery to repair a torn hip labrum Monday, Oakland outfielder Mark Canha recalled his own experiences with a similar procedure four years ago.
Canha’s surgery was a little more involved, because the head of his femur was shaved down, but he also had his labrum repaired.
“The recovery was about six months and the key for that surgery, I was told, was getting back your glute stabilization — so it was a lot of lower body exercises,” Canha said. “After six months, I felt good to go.
“It felt different after I had the surgery done. Definitely a lot better. But it felt different from when it was a healthy hip, I guess you could say. It just feels a little tighter and a little more solid because they repair everything in there . ... It definitely felt more stable, like I could swing and drive into it the way I wanted to as opposed to before, when I would have pain swinging and running.”
Chapman has the same surgeon, hip specialist Dr. Marc Philippon, and Canha talked to his teammate a little before he left for Colorado. “I just offered to give him any advice or answer any questions he had about the surgery and my experience with it,” Canha said. “I basically just want to help him and kind of share my experience if it’s helpful to him.”
The labrum is a ring of cartilage that encircles the hip joint socket, helping protect the joint and hold it in place. A labral tear can occur over time, accelerated by structural abnormalities in the hip or repetitive motions — such as swinging and fielding in baseball — that speed up wear.
Last week, Chapman said the hip was “something that had kind of been bugging me this whole season, just kind of didn’t feel like I had my legs under me.” Chapman exited midgame Sept. 6 after making a spinandthrow play that manager Bob Melvin said aggravated his hip pain.
Dr. Alexis Colvin, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, said recovery time for Chapman could depend on whether the surgery finds and addresses other issues in the hip. Colvin said a typical recovery includes four to six weeks on crutches, but work to begin regaining motion in the hip “can actually start pretty quickly” after surgery.
Agent Scott Boras told The Chronicle that Chapman’s expected recovery time is 12 to 16 weeks if it’s just a labrum tear. A sixmonth timeline, like Canha’s, would project to midspring training. Colvin said it’s “not unreasonable” to think Chapman could potentially return next spring.
“If he did have a period of time where he was in pain and trying to compensate, you not only have the recovery from the surgery but also potentially maybe some technique or other things he developed as compensation because of the hip pain,” Colvin said. “So there’s a couple factors that have to be taken into account.”
As for the A’s outlook without their Platinum Glove third baseman, Canha said, “I think the feeling is kind of like everybody, we’re going to collectively pick up the slack. Obviously, Matt adds a lot of value to our team and helps us win a lot of games. But I think the mindset is kind of like rallying together and let’s all be a little bit better coming down the stretch and lock it in for the remainder of the year.”
Canha has played third base — 33 games in the minors, four games in the bigs — but he’s not really an option there now, though the team has no righthanded hitting thirdbase options on the roster with Chad Pinder out with a hamstring strain.
“We have other guys that are a lot better than I am at that,” Canha said with a laugh. “I think I was probably a very much last resort option for Matt’s replacement.”