Denard Span: "It's been a terrible eight months for me"

Denard Span received hugs and handshakes from teammates and coaches as he walked into the Nationals clubhouse for possibly one of the last times on Saturday afternoon. The 31-year-old center fielder will have season-ending surgery on his left hip on Tuesday.

"I have a torn labrum, an impingement in my left hip," Span said. "I just gotta get it worked on. I gotta get it repaired, get my hip bone shaved down so I can get it back to working properly."

Span indicated the post-surgery recovery period is four to six months.

"Hopefully, I'll be ready to go for spring training," he said.

It's likely that Span's spring training participation will be with another ballclub. He becomes a free agent after the season and the Nationals have rookie Michael A. Taylor ready to take over in center field.

"Wednesday night, I didn't think that it was going to be my last game," Span said. "I didn't have time to process that because I had so much other stuff going on. But the last couple of days, it has been entering my mind, just seeing everybody's well wishes and seeing people on Twitter appreciating me for what I brought to this organization on and off the field. Just the great effort.

"It has made me sad because I've enjoyed my three years here. I feel like coming here really resurrected my career. Coming from Minnesota, this trade was probably the best thing for me at the time. I've learned a lot here from the coaching staff and my teammates. It's just been a good time here."

Span underwent two offseason abdominal procedures - hernia surgery last December and core muscle surgery in March. Span missed the first 12 games of the season, but then returned to play at a high level. Coming off a stellar 2014 campaign where he tied for the National League lead with 184 hits, Span continued his success at the plate, remaining in the top 10 for NL batting average while blasting five homers through the season's first two months.

But in a loss to the Cubs on June 7, Span experienced back spasms for the first time in his career. He played through the back issues for a month before landing on the DL on July 7.

Span returned Tuesday night, but was only able to play two games before shutting it down for hip surgery.

"I first found out right after I left the back specialist," Span said. "That's when I started to realize something was wrong with my hip. Every time I was having the back spasms, I did feel something in my hip, but it felt secondary to the back spasms. And when I went to see the back specialist, he told me nothing was structurally wrong with my back. So I was like, 'OK that's good.' I thought everything was fine. He gave me the cortisone shots in my back.

"And as soon as I got those, that's when it was pretty clear that something was wrong with my hip. I started feeling the hip discomfort and pain starting to become more clear. That's when I saw a hip specialist. They told me what I had. I got a cortisone shot in the hip. This was a little after the All-Star break. So thank God I don't have back issues."

Span revealed that the pain existed during his recent comeback. In his final game, he went 2-for-5, ripping two doubles and scoring a run.

"The first game I came in and got the standing ovation, that was the best/worst feeling ever," Span said. "The fans were happy that I was back, but deep down I knew that I couldn't give them what I normally can bring to this game and to the ballclub. People were telling me 'you looked good last game.' Yeah, I looked good. But I didn't feel good. At the end of the day, I had to do what was best for my future.

"I battled, mentally and physically," he said. "I just didn't feel great at all. I mean, I battled through it. After the second game the other night, I went home and wasn't feeling good. I got two knocks - even though we lost - but normally when I get two hits, I'm in a little bit upbeat mood. But I just wasn't. So talking to my mom, I thought this was best for my future. I need to go ahead and get myself fixed so that I can go out there and be myself on the field."

In 61 games this season, Span batted .301 with five homers, 17 doubles, 22 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He was understandably dejected standing in front of his locker earlier today.

"It's been tough," Span said. "Just the timing of it. Just every aspect. It's been a terrible eight months for me. Really almost a full year. I knew something was wrong my groin as soon as last season was over with. I had a good year last year. As soon as I got home, I knew something was wrong with my groin. Then getting surgery in December and March and fast forward to now, it's just been a domino effect. Bad timing, bad luck. It's just frustrating, man, but I'm trying to stay positive as much as possible and just try to trust in God's plan that I will overcome this. It's just another chapter in my book. That's all I can do right now."

Span wasn't sure how much he will be able to return to the ballpark after his surgery given the physical limitations.

"I don't know how I'll be moving with the crutches and stuff," he said. "But I'm sure that you'll be seeing me again before I get out of town. I'll say my farewell to everybody. I'm not going to be one of those guys that disappears. I want to make sure I shake everybody's hand and say goodbye because this might be the last time."