LaPorta Has Hip and Toe Surgery
The Cleveland Indians today announced INF/OF MATT LaPORTA underwent a pair of procedures yesterday in Vail, Colorado to his left hip and left great (big) toe.
The arthroscopic hip surgery was performed by Dr. Marc Philippon, who performed a debridement of a bony impingement in the joint. The left toe procedure was performed by Dr. Thomas Clanton, who stabilized the loose joint. LaPorta missed several games in late September with left hip inflammation and injured his toe on the final game of the season on October 4th in Boston running down a fly ball in the outfield. Rehabilitation for Matt is between 4-to-6 months with the goal of making a full recovery in time for the start of the 2010 Championship Season. He will remain in Vail for a week and will spend most of the off-season rehabbing in Goodyear, AZ.
In just his second full professional season, LaPorta spent the majority of the campaign at AAA Columbus where he hit .299 (101-338) with 23 2B, 2 3B, 17HR & 60RBI in 93 games for the Clippers. He finished 4th in the International League in slugging % (.530), 5th in on-base % (.388), 2nd in OPS (.917) & T11th in HR (17) despite not playing at the Triple A level after August 19. He spent two stints in Cleveland and during his 2nd stint from August 19th-on he hit .273 (38-139) with 12 2B, 6HR & 17 RBI in 39 games (.805OPS). Overall with Cleveland he made 29 starts in LF, 10 starts in RF and 10 starts at first base.
Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.
