Tigers' Avila will not have surgery on injured knee

Alex Avila doesn't like talking about injuries.

And when he starts talking about medical terminology, he said, "It's no good."

So, he said on Wednesday night, summarizing his decision to opt against surgery and instead rehabilitate his left knee, "When I heard that we can go this route and not only can get me on the field as quickly as possible but at the same time, be beneficial for me long-term as well, I was all for it."

After an examination earlier in the day, the injured Tigers catcher will embark on a treatment program to avoid surgery on his left knee.

"Rest and rehab," he said. "And we'll see where that takes us."



Avila, 28, has been on the 15-day disabled list since Saturday with a loose body in his left knee, an injury that, after three separate opinions from doctors, "They're not convinced that it's a loose body," manager Brad Ausmus said. "There's something in there, but they're not convinced that it's loose."



Avila will rest for a few days, then most likely begin the rehabilitation process when the team returns from their weekend series in St. Louis.

The timetable for his return, Avila said, isn't yet known. But he said "I would hope so," when asked if it would be less than the 4-6 weeks he could have missed if he opted for arthroscopic surgery.

"Not sure just because everybody's body heals differently," he said. "That's basically how it's going to go, how the body feels, what it tells me.

"My hope is I will be back sooner, that's why we went with this option so time will tell."

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Avila said he took his time exhausting all options because he wanted to weigh how quickly he could get back on the field in the short-term and how the options would affect him long-term.

He is due to hit free agency in the winter.

"A few doctors saw it and all the doctors were in communication so it was kind of a collaborative effort and anytime you have an injury and stuff like that, one that's going to keep me out as long as like this, it's always going to be a tough decision," he said.

Avila is hitting .200 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 22 games with a .342 on-base percentage while playing through "pretty painful" conditions for the past three weeks.

Asked about a timetable had he opted for surgery, he said, "I have no idea, we didn't get that far." And asked if it was good to avoid surgery, he said, "Absolutely."

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.