After discovering that he had the same injury that Cliff Lee has last week, Phillies reliever Mario Hollands will likely undergo surgery to repair the tear in his common flexor tendon. Hollands first experienced something wrong in September that caused his season to end early.
In an update from Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com, he reports that Hollands saw the team doctor Michael Ciccotti this week and that surgery is the recommended option. The left-handers' first attempt at rehab failed, as shown by the news of his tear this spring. Zolecki mentions that he has two other options. He could rest or explore Platelet-Rich Plasma injections.
“I wanted to do the PRP and rest because I wanted to help the team this year. I wanted to play,” Hollands said. “That’s still in my head because I want to play so bad, but I am a little worried because it’s the second time so I don’t know if rest or PRP will be the only solution. So surgery, I’m thinking about it pretty hard.”
Hollands will meet with Dr. James Andrews to get a second opinion. Obviously, it seems as if rest is off the table for the young reliever, so surgery may be the only way to solve the problem once and for all.
“It would be heartbreaking if it came back again after rest,” Hollands said.
In that sense, surgery might be the safest option.
“That’ll help just seal it up and hopefully it will never be a problem again,” Hollands said.
Last season, Hollands posted a 2-2 record and a 4.40 ERA in 50 games for the Phillies. With his injury, Rule-5 pick Andy Oliver along with Jeanmar Gomez have a much better chance at starting the year in the Phillies bullpen. He had struggled in five appearances this spring, allowing seven runs on ten hits in just 5 1/3 innings.
