Charlie Morton recently went on the 15-day disabled list with what was believed to be hip inflammation. However, according to Tom Singer and others, Morton was diagnosed with a sports hernia.
Morton says his injury been diagnosed as sports hernia, not hip inflammation as originally described when DL-ed. #pirates #MLB
— Tom Singer (@Tom_Singer) August 20, 2014
The updated diagnosis means that Morton could require surgery in the off-season to fix the issue. In related injuries, A.J. Burnett has been pitching with a sports hernia all season, so it is possible to pitch through the injury. However, Burnett has struggled, and that could be the cause for those issues. Morton was recently struggling, and the injury could also be related.
Cole Hamels had a similar injury in 2011, and saw his numbers drop in the final month of the season. To put that in perspective, he had a 2.58 ERA through the end of August, and a 3.79 ERA in the month of September.
In all of these cases, we don’t know how big a role the injury played with the performance. In Hamels’ case, he had off-season surgery, and pitched a full season the following year. Morton could return, but his performance would be questionable. He could require surgery in the off-season, and if he does, it probably wouldn’t impact his 2015 season.
