Chicago White Sox slugger Adam Dunn learned from watching a television report about Matt Holliday that he might have an appendix ready to burst. Much like Holliday, Dunn has also followed a quick path to recovery and is likely to return to the diamond before long. What makes the return of both players to the field pretty remarkable is how little time it’s taking each player to recover from surgery.
Holliday had his appendectomy on Friday, April 1st and was already back in the lineup on Sunday April 10th, just nine days later. He was initially expected to miss 4-6 weeks, and then later projected to miss 3-4 weeks by the club. Later we learned the Cardinals were not even going to place him on the disabled list and that Holliday would be back in less than two weeks. He was, and he went 1-for-3 with two walks, a run, and an RBI in his first game back Sunday.
Dunn was taken to the hospital for an emergency operation after Tuesday’s White Sox game in Kansas City. He talked about playing a few days later and even took batting practice on Saturday, just three days after his operation. He’s been eager to return to the lineup and said he was ready to play whenever the club cleared him, but they haven’t yet. It didn’t help matters that Dunn reportedly experienced discomfort running the bases Monday, but the chances he’s back in a few days are pretty high.
We’ve already seen Matt Holliday return to the lineup and play well nine days after an appendectomy and we’ll likely see Adam Dunn return just as early. What this tells us, much like the pitchers who fought through ailments last weekend, is that baseball players do have some tough bones in their bodies. Also, our surgical advancements are pretty impressive given that players can return from intrusive operations so quickly.
Thanks to Rotoworld for the injury updates on Matt Holliday and “>Adam Dunn.
