The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on Wednesday afternoon that Josh Bell had minor knee surgery after experiencing discomfort during his recent off-season workouts. It was described as the removal of “loose body” and the surgery was performed today. The return to baseball activities from this injury is 2-4 weeks. He could be back for the first Spring Training workouts with that best case scenario, but the Pirates will likely take his return slow, since there’s no need to rush back with Spring Training lasting slightly longer this year due to the World Baseball Classic.
His Opening Day status is now listed as “to be determined”, but with the opener still being 8 1/2 weeks away, it sounds like they are just playing it safe for now.
The Pirates issued the following statement:
“Josh Bell recently made the Club aware that he was having some discomfort in his left knee during his off-season workouts. After being evaluated by the Pirates’ medical staff in Pittsburgh and by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX, it was recommended to Josh that he have surgery in order to remove a loose body from his left knee that was causing the discomfort. Josh had surgery today by Dr. Meister and the loose body was removed from his knee. The typical return to baseball activities from this type of procedure is two to four weeks. Josh’s status for opening day is to be determined.”
