On Tuesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced outfielder Steven Souza Jr. will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a substantial left knee injury that includes an ACL tear, LCL tear, partial PCL tear, and posterior lateral capsule tear. Souza exited Monday's exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox at Chase Field after a scary slip while he was crossing home plate.
Torey Lovullo announces Steven Souza Jr. will undergo season-ending surgery to repair an ACL tear, LCL tear, partial PCL tear, and posterior lateral capsule tear in his left knee.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 26, 2019
Here's video of Souza's injury:
Here’s the play that ended up with Arizona #Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza Jr. suffering an ACL tear, LCL tear, partial PCL tear, and posterior lateral capsule tear in his left knee. Fast forward to 0:38 to see the injury. pic.twitter.com/wsbGavFv1q
— Andersen Pickard (@andersenreports) March 26, 2019
Souza, 29, missed most of 2018 because of injuries. He hit .220 with five home runs and 29 RBIs in 272 plate appearances (72 games) in last year. He had been pegged to serve as Arizona's everyday right fielder, but the D-Backs will likely use veteran Adam Jones to fill the spot.
Jones signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Diamondbacks earlier this month. That leaves Ketel Marte in for the everyday role in center field and David Peralta in left. Jarrod Dyson projects to come off the bench as the Diamondbacks' fourth outfielder.
Just before Souza's injury, the Diamondbacks placed outfielder Socrates Brito on outright waivers. Brito could have provided extra insurance in the outfield, and Arizona is hopeful to keep Brito in the organization at Triple-A Reno, but he'll have to go unclaimed off waivers before that happens.
The Diamondbacks are entering the 2019 season in a state of transition, and the team was counting on Souza to have a bounce-back season (he hit 30 homers and had an .810 OPS in 2017) and fill some of the offensive void left by the departures of Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock this offseason.
