White Sox’ John Danks done for season
Since going on the disabled list May 20, John Danks always tried to get out on the mound and throw.
He always was optimistic about rejoining the White Sox’ starting rotation, even as the calendar turned from days to weeks to months.
But there always was one constant during Danks’ numerous comeback attempts — the pain in his throwing (left) shoulder never subsided.
Before new starter Francisco Liriano made his debut Tuesday night against the Twins, his former team, the Sox announced Danks is going to have season-ending shoulder surgery.
“Obviously, this whole time, this has been the absolute last resort,” Danks told reporters in Minnesota. “We’ve been going on 8-9 weeks, and we haven’t made improvements that we hoped and thought would be making. You do what you’ve got to do.
“We got to the point where we couldn’t help start thinking about next year and cutting our losses this year and try to be ready by spring.”
MRIs on Danks’ shoulder revealed no structural damage, but there obviously is something wrong with the 27-year-old pitcher.
Danks, who signed a five-year, $65 million contract extension with the White Sox in December, will have exploratory surgery Monday at Rush University Surgery Center in Chicago.
Dr. Greg Nicholson and Dr. Tony Romeo will lead the surgical team with assistance from Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph and Dr. Nick Verma. Dr. Romeo repaired Jake Peavy’s detached lat two years ago.
“There’s just definitely something there, something going on, and we got to a point where you’ve got to do what you got to do,” Danks said. “It’s unfortunate you have to do this, but I definitely trust these doctors.
“These guys were my first choice, for sure, not only with their track record, but they’ve been on board since the first step. I anticipate it going perfect and being ready for spring training.”
Realizing Danks’ status and some potential health issues with ace Chris Sale, who is not expected to start until Tuesday against Kansas City (giving him 10 days rest), Williams landed Liriano in a trade with the Twins on Saturday night.
Liriano was solid in his first White Sox start, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 innings. He also had 8 strikeouts and 4 walks.
Williams made some more calls before Tuesday afternoon’s nonwaiver trade deadline but stood pat.
“There were some interesting discussions but nothing that I would describe as close enough to start exchanging medicals,” Williams told reporters. “I feel like just as we ask the players to grind it out and give it everything they have, we have a responsibility to do the same. We want to show them we are in this fight with them and believe in them.
“Whether or not we have positioned ourselves to close this thing out or not, we’ve given all we have and exhausted all options in the quest to be as good as we can be. Hopefully that’s enough and hopefully the players see that.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com