Gio Urshela underwent surgery on Friday to remove a bone chip from his right elbow, with the infielder expected to recover within three months, the Yankees announced.
The Yankees first acknowledged Urshela’s elbow issue in late August, and it required a September stint on the injured list. Dr. Christopher Ahmad performed Urshela’s surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and it is said to have gone as expected.
INF Gio Urshela underwent surgery today to remove a bone chip from his right elbow. The procedure was performed by Yankees Head Team Physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital & went as expected. Urshela’s anticipated recovery time from surgery is 3 months.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) December 5, 2020
In his end-of-season news conference, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that surgery had not been deemed necessary for the 29-year-old, who was not displaying symptoms at the time. Urshela batted .298/.368/.490 (136 OPS+) with six homers and 30 RBIs in 43 games this past season.
The Yankees’ time frame indicates that Urshela should be ready for the scheduled April 1 season opener against the Blue Jays, though his Spring Training debut will likely be delayed.
Miguel Andújar, Thairo Estrada and Tyler Wade are among those who could see increased playing time early in camp.
A Gold Glove Award finalist this past year, Urshela has provided excellent production since being acquired from Toronto in a 2018 trade.
Over the past two seasons, Urshela has batted .310/.358/.523 (133 OPS+) with 27 homers and 104 RBIs in 175 games.
Urshela owns a career .273/.322/.432 (100 OPS+) slash line in 342 big league games with the Indians (2015, ’17), Blue Jays (’18) and Yankees.
Looks like Gio Urshela ended up getting the surgery to remove the bone spur in his right elbow. It was reported in September that he might do this pic.twitter.com/JBK2lor4B9
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) December 5, 2020
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected]erlakes1.com.