Chicago White Sox starter John Danks will miss the rest of the year due to a shoulder injury, and he'll have surgery on Monday. Danks hasn't pitched in the majors since May 19th, after which he was placed on the DL with soreness in his shoulder. An MRI taken after a rehab start revealed a torn muscle in Danks's left shoulder. Danks's tear is a grade one tear, which is the least severe.
This is a pretty big deal for the White Sox, even more magnified because of the five year, $65 million contract extension they gave to Danks before the season. Shoulder surgery is nowhere near as much of an open and shut case in comparison to elbow surgery, and the White Sox now have to be wondering about the long-term health of Danks, and whether or not he'll ever regain his form as a three to five win pitcher. One break for the White Sox is that Danks is just 27 and not older. If he were in his early 30's, I'd feel a lot less secure in Danks regaining his form. Also, Danks has put a lot of mileage on his arm, throwing over 900 career innings before his 27th birthday. Something like this may have just been waiting to rear it's ugly head, and maybe it's better that this happened sooner rather than later.
Chicago's rotation has been good this year, even without Danks, but they could obivously use the boost. Jake Peavy and Chris Sale have been two of the best pitchers in the American League, while Jose Quintana has been an excellent surprise and a solid middle of the rotation pitcher, whle Gavin Floyd has been average. Danks would help the team out a lot, but they're not exactly getting creamed here.
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