A.J. Puk's Shoulder Surgery was a Cleanout, not a Repair, Which is Good News for Athletics
For a pitcher who has just undergone shoulder surgery and will have to wait 10 weeks before throwing again, the news is pretty good for A’s lefty A.J. Puk.
Oakland trainer Nick Paparesta said Friday Puk’s shoulder needed “a clean out” and not a repair, which is the best-case scenario. When the A’s reconvene for the 2021 season in February, Puk should be ready to compete for a starting job.
The surgery, conducted Wednesday at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles by orthopedic surgery specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache, left Puk doing well enough that he’s already begun physical therapy
”They debrided his labrum and did a little debridement of the rotator cuff,” Paparesta said. “And they did a full cleanout of his shoulder due to the bursitis he had going on there.
“Dr. ElAttrache was pretty excited they didn’t; have to do any type of repairs or sutures within the procedure, and the play would be for him to be throwing, probably in about 10- weeks. That would put us near December, so we’ll probably err on the side of caution and go 12 weeks.”
That would enable Puk to go through a somewhat normal offseason throwing program building up to spring training and the 2021 season.
Ask to compare this to surgeries other A’s pitcher have undergone in the recent past, Paparesta said that this one, with no repair work being needed, stood out.
He’ll get his stitches out a week from Monday in Southern California before returning home for the winter and preparing for 2021.
“We would hope to have him in there in spring training with the rest of the pitchers, kind of along the same progression as those guys,” Paparesta said. “He feels good, and there’s not a lot of soreness.
“He’s just excited that this thing’s finally taken care of and he can get rolling next year.”
It’s been a long road for Puk, who already had Tommy John surgery in 2017/18. The 6-foot-7 left-hander twice seemed to be on the brink on being in the Oakland starting rotation, both in Spring Training 1 and in summer camp.
In the first week of March Puk was shut down before he was ready to make his third spring start. ElAttrache told the club that he’d found no structural damage in Puk’s shoulder.
Puk worked his way back, only to have what was determined to be a mild shoulder strain force him to the sidelines in July, keeping him from being part of the A’s rotation when the season finally started up. He began throwing again on Aug. 15 and heading into the first week of September he was on the verge of being called up as a reliever before shoulder pain cropped up again.
Paparesta said another A's starter, Daniel Mengden is back with the A's group at the San Jose alternate site. He tested positive for COVID-19 three weeks ago. never showed symptoms and has gone though a full self quarantine before getting back on a mound today.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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