PHOENIX -- Oakland Athletics reliever Chad Bradford will
have back surgery on Monday and is expected to be out until late
June.
Bradford has been plagued by lower-back soreness and spasms for
years, and the problems flared up again early in spring training.
His back locked up with spasms last week, and days of
rehabilitation haven't fixed the problem.
"With my delivery, it's not the first time I've had lower back
problems," Bradford said. "The way I twist and turn out there, it
grinds on my back. But if I threw over the top, I'd be at home
right now working somewhere, and not in the bigs."
The A's announced Saturday that Bradford will be operated on by
Dr. Greg Wood in Mississippi.
Bradford has been a fixture in Oakland's bullpen, getting key
outs as a top set-up man to the A's long list of closers. He is
18-14 with six saves and 186 strikeouts since 2001.
But his back problems have built up for years -- to the point
where he's unable to sit still for long periods on team flights or
even on his couch. He had serious back trouble last spring,
preventing him from pitching in the Cactus League until the final
week.
His ERA rose to 4.42 last season, and he spent 15 days on the
disabled list late in the regular season with lower back problems.
Bradford's struggles were among the many reasons Oakland blew an
AL-leading 28 saves last season.
The 30-year-old right-hander devoted himself to an offseason
recovery program back home in Mississippi, but it apparently did
little to keep his back from acting much older than its age. The
A's have tried various treatment methods this spring.
"The way he throws is really hard on his back," A's trainer
Larry Davis said. "There's no way to change that. That's what
makes him so effective. You just have to deal with the resulting
trauma that happens.
It's not going to go away. That's what
frustrates Chad so much. Once you have a back problem, you have a
back problem (forever)."