Brett Anderson to undergo season-ending back surgery

The Colorado Rockies are playing out the final months of a truly dismal season. They did look to have one glimmer of hope in their starting rotation, only to see that also fall apart with the news that Brett Anderson will be out for the remainder of the 2014 campaign.

More from Colorado Rockies

Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports that Anderson will undergo surgery on a lower disk in his back and will be out for the year.

"Rockies left-handed pitcher Brett Anderson will undergo surgery to repair a disk in his lower back Thursday in Phoenix, head athletic trainer Keith Dugger said Monday.Anderson left an Aug. 5 start against the Cubs after three innings with back pain, and the issue did not improve with rest and treatment. Dr. Chris Yeung, a noted spinal surgeon in Arizona, will perform the operation. Unless there are other problems in the back, recovery time is five months, so Anderson should be ready for Spring Training."

Anderson had just returned from a stint on the 60-day disabled list due to a broken finger and was pitching quite well for the Rockies. The final numbers from his injury-shortened season are as follows: 1-3, 43.1 innings pitched, and a 2.91 ERA. By any standard those are good numbers; by the Rockies’ standards they might have been preparing to throw him a parade if he had stayed healthy and maintained those results.

Now the Colorado front office faces a difficult decision. They had reportedly been planning on exercising a $12 million option to keep Anderson next season. If he is going to be ready for spring training, they very well may still do that.

To do so, however, is to spend $12 million on a guy who gave you only 43 innings the season before and now has an injury history that includes arm, ankle, finger, and back troubles.

That decision will not be an easy one for a team already starved for durability and decent pitching.

Home/Colorado Rockies