Span undergoes surgery to repair sports hernia

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

December 03, 2014, 5:26am

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Nationals center fielder Denard Span underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia, the team announced today.

The surgery was successful, per the team, and Span is expected to be ready for spring training, which will begin in a little less than three months.

Span tweeted out a picture of himself in a hospital bed earlier this morning, sending off alarm bells among some Nats fans. The Nationals quickly announced the news of the sports hernia surgery, which should calm any major concerns.

With the picture, Span tweeted, "God is so good! I doubted whether or not I would make it thru this but he saw me through this! So thankful."

Sports hernias are considered somewhat common among athletes in sports that require sudden changes of direction or intense twisting movements.

Conservatively, sports hernia surgery typically requires somewhere around six weeks of recovery time before the athlete is able to return to full strength and speed.

As someone who both relies on his speed and needs to make quick movements and change directions frequently out in center field, Span will need to make sure he takes his recovery carefully before returning to action in spring training.

Span is coming off a tremendous 2014 season in which he hit .302/.355/.416 with 184 hits and 31 stolen bases in 38 attempts.

He was named both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger finalist.

The Nationals have picked up Span's team option for the 2015 season, which will pay the 30-year-old $9 million.