Jacoby Ellsbury of New York Yankees undergoes hip surgery; out at least six more months

Pete Caldera | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption yankees manager Aaron Boone talks about Lance Lynn's win at Chicago Yankees manager Aaron Boone after game on Monday, talks about Lance Lynn's win

CHICAGO – Finally, there’s an explanation behind Jacoby Ellsbury’s mysterious season-long absence.

On Monday, the injury-plagued Yankees outfielder underwent left hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. The surgery was performed at Manhattan’s Hospital for Special Surgery, by Dr. Bryan Kelly, and went as expected.

According to the Yankees, the typical recovery time frame is approximately six months, which would put him in line to begin spring training.

“I heard a few days ago that he’d decided on going the surgical route,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Tuesday, prior to the game against the White Sox. “Hopefully, this is something that gets him right.’’

Yet, Ellsbury’s future with the Yankees – despite his two additional guaranteed contract years – remains in question.

After this season, Ellsbury is still owed roughly $47.3 million of his original seven-year, $153 million free agent contract, which includes the buyout of an option for the 2021 season.

Two months ago, Ellsbury vowed to play in 2018.

“You want to be out there, that’s all you can really say,’’ Ellsbury told reporters at the Yankees’ Tampa, Fla. Complex. “(I) just want to be out there and obviously you do everything you can do down here to be back as soon as possible.

Ellsbury did not start in any postseason games last year, having lost the starting center field job to Aaron Hicks.

And there were no assurances in 2018 about Ellsbury’s playing time with the addition of Giancarlo Stanton to an outfield that already featured Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner and Hicks, with Clint Frazier also in the mix.

Gardner is potentially a free agent after this season, while Frazier is a possible trade chip during this offseason.

“It’s hard to speculate what our roster will look like next year,’’ Boone said, speaking generally about Ellsbury’s place on a 2019 roster. “Hopefully, he’ll be a part of it - if he’s starting somewhere in the outfield or if he’s that extra outfielder.

“As long as he’s healthy, we know we still potentially have a really good player on our hands,’’ Boone said.

During this past spring training, Ellsbury dealt with oblique, hamstring, plantar fasciitis and back issues, but the hip problem had ultimately kept the lefty-hitting outfielder from sustaining any on-field work.

“Now that we’re post-surgery, I think they feel like it all kind of traces back to probably the hip,’’ Boone said of the root cause for Ellsbury’s season-long absence.

And the club believes it exhausted every option with Ellsbury before surgery was recommended.

Clint Frazier, Michael Kay speak

At Tampa, outfielder Clint Frazier took batting practice on the field and threw on Monday.

Frazier is still feeling the effects of post-concussion migraines, though he’s “also feeling better’’ according to Boone. There is no date, as yet, for Frazier to resume playing.

Boone also mentioned that Frazier and YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay “apparently had a good conversation’’ after the two had spoken by phone on Tuesday morning.

Via Twitter, Frazier expressed his displeasure at Kay questioning his injury recovery on ESPN Radio.

Kay later said his words came out in a clumsy way and offered an apology to Frazier on Twitter, Tuesday morning.

“We should never have things coming from the organization to the media second hand, or in an underhanded kind of way,’’ said Boone, adding that he saw Frazier’s tweet and Kay’s response on Tuesday. “I kind of look at it now as water under the bridge.’’

As for the general nature of players taking to Twitter for such things, Boone said: “I don’t necessarily love that part of it, but I don’t necessarily want to stifle our guys who wan to make a comment or have a thought. We’re not going to get in the way of that.’'

Aaron Judge update

Outfielder Aaron Judge (chip fracture, right wrist) isn’t expected to conduct any dry swings while the Yankees are in Chicago.

“With Aaron, it’s going to be one of those things where the pain has to be all the way out of there,’’ Boone said. “Once it is, I think it goes fast from there. He’s in great shape, he’s been able to do all of his conditioning.’’

Judge worked briefly in the outfield on Monday, tossing baseballs in a bucket. Hit by a pitch on July 26, Judge was given a three-week timetable to resume swinging under game conditions.

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