Kansas City's Josh Fields will have arthroscopic surgery to repair his labrum, the same procedure performed on Royals third baseman Alex Gordon and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez last year. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)Kansas City third baseman Josh Fields will undergo right hip surgery, a procedure the Royals say could end his season.
Fields, acquired in an off-season trade from the Chicago White Sox, opened the season on the disabled list with a strained hip flexor, part of the muscle group that pulls the knee upward. He had been improving, but elected to have surgery after undergoing more tests.
Fields will have arthroscopic surgery to repair his labrum, the cartilage surrounding the hip's ball-and-socket joint. The same procedure was performed on Royals third baseman Alex Gordon and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez last year.
"It's always disappointing when a guy has an impact injury," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "You feel for him. He's a hard worker. He's a tough guy. He tried to play through some lower-half stiffness."
Fields, 27, had been expected to back up Gordon at third and play in the outfield, but has been out since late in spring training, where he hit .157.
"I don't definitely know if he's going to be out for the whole year, but that's my assumption," Hillman said.
