The Diamondbacks announced Tuesday that right fielder Steven Souza Jr. will undergo major surgery to repair his his left knee. The operation will address not only a torn ACL but also a torn LCL, a partially torn PCL and a posterolateral capsule tear. Souza suffered the injury while crossing home plate in last night’s Cactus League game. He was helped off the field after crumpling to the ground and underwent an MRI to evaluate the damage this morning.
The gruesome injury will bring about a second frustrating year for Souza, whom the D-backs had hoped could give them a controllable power bat in right field at the time of his acquisition from the Rays. A series of pectoral strains limited Souza to just 72 games in 2018, though, and he now won’t suit up until 2020 at the earliest. A specific timetable on injury of this magnitude won’t be known until surgeons have repaired the extensive damage.
Souza, 29, looked to be healthy after last seasons injury troubles this spring as he turned in a 10-for-47 effort with a pair of homers, a double and seven walks. He’d been lined up to serve as Arizona’s everyday right fielder but will now cede those duties to some combination of Adam Jones and Jarrod Dyson. Jones, who signed a one-year deal worth $3MM with the Diamondbacks earlier this month, had been set to play all three outfield positions but may now slot in as the primary right fielder with Dyson backing up Ketel Marte. The loss of Souza significantly increases the odds that utilityman Ildemaro Vargas will break camp with the Diamondbacks.
Arizona and Souza agreed to a $4.125MM salary to avoid arbitration earlier this offseason, and he’ll remain under team control through the end of the 2020 season. It’s fairly common for players who miss the entire season due to injury to receive the same salary in arbitration rather than any kind of raise, so if the team is confident in Souza’s ability to return to health in 2020, he could be in line for a similar (if not slightly reduced) rate of pay.
The loss of Souza is compounded by the fact that Arizona had placed fellow outfielder Socrates Brito on waivers prior to last night’s game, meaning one of the team’s primary depth pieces to replace him could now be lost to another organization. If Brito ultimately clears waivers, the Diamondbacks could immediately select him back to the 40-man roster, as placing Souza on the 60-day injured list would open a spot on the 40-man roster. If Brito is claimed by another club, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Diamondbacks look into outfield alternatives. The team does have some non-roster options to which it could turn in the form of Yasmany Tomas, Abraham Almonte and Matt Szczur, but none of that trio was able to secure a roster spot in Spring Training.
just hope he’s able to come back at all…. this is a devastating injury , hopefully not a career-ender
So much for ‘hopes and dreams’… 20 teams left right?
Big blow to Arizona.
look at his stats. not a big blow
3.7 WAR in 2017 then an injury plagued 2018. Losing a potential 30 homer guy is a big blow for anyone
Terrible news for him and the dbacks.
I second that
Actually I’m joking not like they had a chance.
Wow… that was a real funny joke… thanks for sharing! Oh boy… you are just soooo clever! OMG… like totally… like you should totally be a comedy writer! OMG…
If you are a Dbacks fan.. then yes… yes it is terrible news… whether “they have a chance is subjective and trivial”…. I don’t know who your team is… but I’d take the Dbacks starting rotation over whatever team you are a fan of!
They’re just a troll. Don’t feed them
lighten up ranger rick, you sound really worked up over souzas injury. its just sports man, you will be fine
yikes that’s terrible news
good time to drop Socrates Brito
just terrible timing, the Rosters have to be in tomorrow morning, and since Brito was out of options, had to be put on Waivers Monday afternoon… and doubt he makes it through either
Trade Socrates to the Brewers for Thames
if you trade them cash as well maybe.
Brito is on waivers. Can’t trade him at this point.
Season-ending? His regular season had not begun!
On a side note, Rays won the Souza trade?
Powerful comma usage.
Worthless Info
Don’t the MLB season start with regular season games played. Didn’t regular games happen at an international venue? If so, it is season ending.
PS
Author said season ending…not with ‘his.’
Technically, the season began in Japan because those were considered regular season games, but Spring Training didn’t end for the other 28 teams.
Are you guys seriously arguing over the definition of “ending.” Geez!
Don’t forget, comma man.
If a player is due to miss an entire season, then it’s season ending. Point, blank, period!
No doubt but it sure didn’t look so good at the time. Giving up a 30 plus HR bat for prospects.
Banda had TJ. Think both teams knew the risk of their end of the deal. Souza had injury shortened seasons before the trade and a PED suspension on his record. Hopefully Souza can recover and be productive.
His “regular season” is over…. I’m dumbfounded you guys are even arguing over this…
Ugh, just horrible. I hope his recovery goes well.
No more spring training games at Chase Field. Too many Diamondbacks get hurt each year.
they say he was wearing plastic cleats instead of metal and you can see it looks like his foot slides right across home plate like it was made of ice maybe you can sue the shoemaker…
In yesterdays game in montreal, jays vs brewers….. kevin pillar swung on a pitch and his plastic cleats slide causing him to fall.. it was strike 3.
No it wasn’t.
2018 Souza: what a frustrating, miserable year
2019 Souza: hold my beer
Poor guy.
Big oof
brutal. sucks to see a guy suffer an injury like this. Long road to recovery ahead.
Is my perception faulty, or are there far more injuries in baseball today than there were in, say, the 1970s?
good question
Increased muscle mass too much for joints and tendons to handle. Snap, crackle, pop.
Many injuries back then were either not reported by the players or diagnosed incorrectly. The field of medicine in all its avenues has progressed greatly in the last 40-50 years.
Yes.
I do think the excessive weight lifting by all these athletes definitely contributes as well…
I mean Souza had a pectoral injury last year… A PEC! I’ve never heard of a baseball player straining a pec prior to that. He even admitted his muscles were too tight so he was trying to not lift as much this year and be less tight.
Whoa!
Bummer. I got a chance to watch his rehab last season. Cool to see major leaguers at A Ball.
well, at least this might give Yasmany Tomas a second shot. Sucks this is how it happened though.
Souza seems to be injured every year on bad slides and base running, Does this mean the diamondbacks will sign keuchel?
And play him in the outfield?
I was about to agree with you on how Souza “always gets injured on bad slides and running”…. that was until I saw the video of what happened to Souza yesterday…
I just appeared to be a freak accident… he his cleat totally just slid across the plate as if it was black ice!
How does one tear 3 or 4 ligaments scoring a run in an exhibition game? Souza must have been injured during spring training somehow,
Should’ve slid. Isn’t that what they learn on a potential play at the plate?
Man, between the D’Backs, Giants,and Indians and single spots on some other teams, there are some terrible outfields out there this year, yet some decent veteran outfield bats still can’t get a job.
what makes the Dbacks outfield ‘terrible”?
They still have…
-David Peralta 30 homers .300 hitter
-Adam Jones .280 15 homers last year
-Ketel Marte 52 Extra base hits
-Jarrod Dyson – golden glove caliber defender
…..hmmmmmmm
That is a bevy of injuries to recover from.
Hey, D’Backs, if you need another decent outfield bat, I hear Matt Holliday is still available. He’s probably at least better than whoever you’d call up from AAA to be your new 5th outfielder.
I’m sad for him. Really like this guy. Think he’s got a lot of potential. Wishing him a speedy recovery.
With so many injuries in one knee you almost have to wonder if this is career threatening. If just one of them does heel normally he’ll feel that for years.
Season ending or career ending? That’s quite a bit to come back from, wish him the best of luck but that’s awful news for him. He was easily a 20/20 player with his skill set but this injury makes his running game a bit murky in the future. In a business perspective though the Rays won this trade. Hope he recovers ok.
This sounds like a good reason to do roster moves in the middle of the night, after the game is over. Talk about a double dose of bad news.
Last I saw, they have Refsnyder….no problem….
Ok hate the Refsnyder, and O’Brien “rave reviews” jokes (done at the expense of team I root for) but well done lol
I feel bad for this guy. It took forever for him to break out of the minors and then his career has been racked with injuries. I would have to think this injury could be career threatening.
Jones picked the right team. He’ll be playing everyday again. Didn’t think that would happen anywhere.
I’m excited to see him play… I think he can still put of solid numbers…
Brutal injury.. Anyone else thinks spring training is way too long?
Damn we lost our worst outfielder……..
Kevin Pillar, come on down!
That is catastrophic. Baseball is the least of his worries. Wow.
Always liked him on the Rays. Hope he comes back strong.
hope he will be ok he was good when he was with the rays
This guy has a great attitude. By the radio interview this off-season that I heard on Seattle sports radio, seems like a good baseball guy and hard worker. This is a rough one for rehab.