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Red Sox reliever Carson Smith had a rough day on May 14th. He pitched one inning, and let up the winning run in the top of the 8th in a 6-5 Boston loss to the Oakland A’s. After the game, he took out his frustration on his glove by throwing it across the dugout.
He went on the 10-day disabled list at the time, with the team saying that it could be a longterm injury then. Now it’s confirmed, as Smith will have surgery for the shoulder subluxation he suffered a month ago.
While the team still isn’t sure what the exact damage is, that will be discovered during surgery. The one thing that looks sure is that Smith will be out the rest of the season.
Head athletic trainer Brad Pearson said that Carson Smith's surgery will keep him out the rest of 2018. Exactly what is fixed will be determined during the operation. Surgery is to create stability in shoulder. Capsule, labral damage possible
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) June 12, 2018
It’s not the most embarrassing way to injure yourself bad enough to need surgery, but it’s pretty mortifying. Considering it wasn’t even the worst blown relief appearance ever or anything.
He appeared in only 18 games in 2018, good for 14.1 total innings. During his entire three-year tenure in Boston since being traded by Seattle, he’s appeared in 29 games for a total of 23.2 innings pitched. Yeesh. His ERA was a solid 2.66 during that time so it’s not only an embarrassing situation for Smith but an actual loss for the Sox.