Duggar manages disappointment, prepares for surgery

Steven Duggar has opted to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder sustained in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s walk-off win over Arizona in which he scored the go-ahead run.

The Giants have yet to select a date or a surgeon to perform the repair, but Duggar said it will be done “relatively soon.”

They believe Duggar should be ready by the time they report to Scottsdale for Spring Training 2019.

Said the rookie:

“From what I’ve been told, I should be normal by right around December for every day stuff, [and] I’ll be full-go [with] baseball activities ramped up to 100 percent right before camp starts, if there’s no setbacks.”

The injury was extremely disappointing for both the 24-year-old and the Giants organization. 

Said Manager Bruce Bochy:

“I’m sure he’s crushed by this. The guy loves to play the game, he loves baseball and he was really in a good place as far as his confidence, his swing and of course defensively.”

Duggar made his debut July 9 and finishes his 41-game stint batting .255 with two home runs, 17 RBI and 11 doubles. He turned more than a few heads with his speed and range in the outfield as well. 

He felt he had just recently found a groove with his confidence and his swing, which adds to the frustration, but he plans to maximize the next month by observing as much as he can from the dugout:

“I’ll still watch the games and prepare just like if I were to play, because chances are that hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to see these [pitchers] again. So we just kind of take it day-by-day [and] keep your mind on that, and get this rehab going.” 

The disappointment is something he’s finding a way to manage, but he admits that he spent some time grieving the loss of the last month of the season:

“It was tough man. I cried, I threw stuff just privately, just by myself. Once I got that out of my system it’s been just a laser-focus. We get this surgery done and we come out of it.”

Julie Parker is SFBay’s San Francisco Giants beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @InsideThePark3r on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of Giants baseball.