LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp’s hopes for a simple surgery on his left shoulder were dashed when the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger awoke to learn things were worse than doctors had first thought.
Kemp was in Arizona on Wednesday to begin rehabbing from the Oct. 5 surgery that repaired a torn labrum and damage to the rotator cuff, injuries that resulted from him running into the center field wall at Coors Field on Aug. 27.
He says he was “definitely surprised and definitely disappointed” that the procedure was more complicated.
Kemp says the surgery was “pretty scary,” the most serious procedure he’s had in his major league career. The 28-year-old right-handed hitter says he won’t start swinging a bat until January. Doctors have said he should be ready by spring training.
