Ryan Sweeney has his knees back. Now it’s time to see about his
job. The Oakland Athletics’ regular right fielder and arguably
their best pure hitter much of the past three years
— at least when healthy — Sweeney’s status as an everyday player
is suddenly in limbo in the A’s fortified outfield.
PHOENIX
Ryan Sweeney has his knees back. Now it’s time to see about his job.
The Oakland Athletics’ regular right fielder and arguably their best pure hitter much of the past three years — at least when healthy — Sweeney’s status as an everyday player is suddenly in limbo in the A’s fortified outfield.
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But he’s not worried about that just yet. On Wednesday, Sweeney simply will be elated to play in his first live baseball game since last July 11, when he went on the disabled list and subsequently had season-ending surgery on his right knee to correct long-standing issues with patella tendinitis.
Sweeney, 26, has had chronic tendinitis issues in both knees, but after having surgery performed by renowned Colorado orthopedist Dr. J. Richard Steadman on July 30, he believes his problems may be over. He rehabbed his left knee while undergoing therapy for his surgically repaired right, and said he is feeling no pain in either knee for the first time in two years.
“They both feel great, and hopefully it’s past me now and I don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Sweeney said. “I can just go out there and play. I’m hoping that’ll make me a better player, too.”
Sweeney has been a consistently productive hitter — albeit one lacking power — ever since he came to the A’s along with pitcher Gio Gonzalez in the January 2008 Nick Swisher trade with the Chicago White Sox. He has a .291 average in 331 games with Oakland, including .301 in 906 at-bats against right-handed pitching.
He was hitting .294 last season, much of it while in consistent pain, when he came to a mutual decision with the club that it would be in his best interests to have the surgery so he could begin the 2011 season healthy. He doesn’t regret the timing, even though it left the club in a lurch in right field.
“As far as running and cutting and stopping, it hurt more when I ran,” he said. “But I think it affected me more when I was hitting because I was thinking about it and I wasn’t thinking about what I was supposed to be doing. It was like, ‘Oh God, am I going to hit one in the gap and have to run?’
“I was playing pretty good and dealing with it, but it was one of those things the doctor said it was going to keep lingering on,” Sweeney continued. “It just needed to be done because I didn’t want to miss 4-5 months of (this) year.”
Sweeney was cleared to started hitting in December and came to Arizona on Jan. 28 to get a head start on his running and conditioning programs. That phase of his rehab completed, now it’s a matter of therapeutic maintenance and good luck.
Will healthy knees impact his power numbers? Sweeney, a left-handed hitter, said the pain in his right knee often limited his swing on the front side. As a result, he hit just one home run in 82 games. He hit six in 2009.
“Maybe now I’ll pick certain counts where I might let it go a little bit and try to drive the ball a little bit more,” he said. “But I’m not going to try to change the kind of player I am.”
Even though Sweeney pronounced himself 100 percent, manager Bob Geren said the A’s will be exceedingly careful even now that he’s ready to play. The outfielder will begin with a one-day-on/two-day-off playing schedule and progress from there, even if it means he might not be ready for opening day.
“I want to see how he responds from being on his feet in the outfield and on the bases,” Geren said. “If it comes down to the end of spring training and he needs more at-bats, we could ramp up his at-bats in some minor league games.”
But even when he’s ready to play every day, will he? With the additions of David DeJesus and Josh Willingham, Sweeney’s not an automatic anymore. His versatility will help — Geren projects he’ll be playing all three outfield spots over the course of the season — but it remains to be seen how it will all unfold.
“As far as guys rotating and who’s going to play against what, the season will kind of dictate that,” Sweeney said. “Hopefully, everybody just gets as many at-bats as possible and it works out.”
— Story by Carl Steward, The Oakland Tribune
