Miguel Andujar Hopes To Avoid Surgery For Shoulder Injury

While the threat of surgery remains, Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar says he does not believe he’ll need to go under the knife, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. Andujar has already been placed on the 10-day injured list.

Andujar, 24, says his shoulder still feels strong and that he has received promising results from initial physical tests. He’s slated for “physical therapy,” with a reevaluation due “in a couple weeks.”

Ackert chatted with a shoulder expert who provides some information regarding the typical rehab course for this sort of injury — what the club has characterized as a small labrum tear. It seems the likely process will be to establish range of motion in the joint and then begin strengthening.

There are still hurdles, but it seems there is a legitimate hope that Andujar will not require a procedure that would end his season prematurely. Throwing will likely be a loftier challenge than hitting, given the nature of the injury, so it’s also at least theoretically possible that Andujar will be able to return in a DH capacity before he’s fully prepared to man the hot corner.