Major League Baseball

Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez has surgery

Published Dec. 8, 2010 2:15 a.m. ET

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Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder Tuesday, his second such procedure on his non-throwing shoulder in a year.

Team athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said Sanchez had the surgery in Scottsdale, Ariz. The World Series champion Giants made the announcement at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Sanchez is expected to be in San Francisco's starting lineup come opening day 2011.

The shoulder bothered Sanchez late in the regular season and during the playoffs, when the Giants made an improbable run to the franchise's first title since moving West in 1958 from New York - beating the Texas Rangers in five games in the World Series.

''We tried to rehab for three to four weeks to avoid this but after several different opinions we decided, especially with the calendar, to go ahead and scope the shoulder,'' Groeschner told reporters in Florida.

The 32-year-old Sanchez also had surgery on the same shoulder last December and began the season on the disabled list. This time, he received three opinions before going forward with the surgery, which Groeschner said was essentially to cut the biceps tendon and clean up the back of his shoulder.

''He had no repairs or anything. We're probably looking at an eight-week recovery,'' Groeschner said. ''I think he'll be behind in spring training because he'll be rehabbing, but I think all the doctors he saw agreed that he should be back pretty quickly from there and he'll be able to play baseball games in March, for sure.''

Sanchez batted .292 with seven homers and 47 RBIs in 111 games this season, then proved reliable at the plate and with his glove in his first postseason after nine major league seasons. He hit .270 with four RBIs during the postseason for the NL West champions, who clinched the division on the season's final day to end a six-year playoff drought.

Sanchez has had his share of hard luck with injuries since joining the Giants on July 29, 2009, from Pittsburgh, walking from the visiting clubhouse to the home side since the Pirates were playing at AT&T Park.

A three-time All-Star and the 2006 NL batting champion with Pittsburgh, Sanchez had left knee surgery after the 2009 season. He was limited to 25 games for San Francisco because of injuries, but the Giants still had enough confidence he could rebound to give him a $12 million, two-year contract on Oct. 30, 2009.

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