Almost before it got started the Oakland A’s 2013 Spring Training got some bad news when manager Bob Melvin reported that closer Grant Balfour has a meniscus tear in his right knee that will require arthroscopic surgery and will miss the next 4 to 6 weeks. Balfour could still be ready for opening day. “I feel good about getting it done now,” Balfour said in a statement. “It will allow me to get ready for Game 1 of the season.”
The 35-year-old Balfour is coming off three straight seasons in which he’s worked at least 55 1/3 innings to go with a sub-3.00 ERA. In 2012, he boasted a WHIP of 0.94.
Balfour claimed to feel some knee soreness towards the end of last year but that the pain went away during the off-season. The pain reoccurred yesterday in the A’s sent him for an MRI that revealed a tear.
Dr. Doug Freedberg, who did Scott Sizemore’s ACL reconstruction last spring, will do the arthroscopic surgery today at 2 p.m. In the event Balfour isn’t quite ready by the start of the season, Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle both would be available to close games.
