Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez undergoes emergency appendectomy

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies received a startling bit of news when they learned that outfielder Carlos Gonzalez was forced to undergo an emergency appendectomy in Denver on Friday night.

The news was first reported by CarGo’s own Twitter account:

Carlos González was operated for appendicitis last night in Denver, presented a strong stomach pain and went to the emergency...
— CarGo (@CarGo5) January 11, 2014

Rafael Rojas C reports that the operation also included the removal of a small hernia:

As for the period of recovery that will be required, that depends but could be over a month:

#Rockies source says @CarGoMedia5 will be released from local hospital today and will not do activity until follow-up appointent in 2 weeks
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) January 11, 2014

Recovery time from appendectomy ranges from 3-6 weeks, based on previous players. But everyone differnt
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) January 11, 2014

Look, I’ll be the one to ask the tough question here. Is this when the league gets serious about some real talk about Major League Baseball players and prophylactic appendectomies? For the Rockies’ part, this is not the first time this issue has reared its head. They lost Rafael Betancourt to the disabled list this past July to appendicitis.

As for the Rockies, the timing could not have been any better. CarGo can take plenty of time to rest and still put in enough time in Spring Training to be sharp for the regular season.