NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Yankees and Alex Rodriguez are concerned the third baseman’s surgically repaired right hip is damaged.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Rodriguez recently visited Dr. Marc Phillippon in Colorado after experiencing tightness in the hip that Phillippon operated on in 2009.
“It’s an issue,’’ the person said. “A big issue.’’
Earlier in the day at a Heights and Lights event in Stamford, CT., GM Brian Cashman mentioned Rodriguez’ hip when asked what the third baseman was doing since the Tigers swept the Yankees in the ALCS.
”He is always going to have hip issues to deal with. That’s just part of his winter program,’’ Cashman said.
Cashman didn’t return messages seeking further explanation following the event.
If Rodriguez needs another operation he could miss the start of the 2013 season like he did in 2009 when Phillippon repaired the right hip labrum, removed an impingement in the joint and drained a cyst.
And at 36 (37 in late July) you have to wonder what a second hip operation in four years will mean to the rest of Rodriguez’ career.
He has five years and $114 million remaining on a 10-year, $275 million deal.
Not known is if a hip problem was the reason Rodriguez’s swings against righties in the postseason were so poor that manager Joe Girardi turned baseball’s highest-paid player into a platoon player when he didn’t start the final two games against Tiger right-handers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
Girardi pinch-hit for Rodriguez in three other October games.
Asked if he was healthy during the postseason, Rodriguez said, “I am getting treatment’’ without mentioning a specific body part. He was out from July 25 to Sept.3 with a fractured left hand. In light of the hip news it’s likely Rodriguez’s hip was being treated and why he looked stiff in the ALCS.
Limited to 122 games after appearing in a career-low 99 in 2011, Rodriguez hit .272 with 18 homers and 57 RBIs. In the ALDS and ALCS, Rodriguez went 3-for-25 (.120) without a homer or RBI and fanned 12 times.
Once a heavy favorite to pass Barry Bonds (762) on the all-time home run list, Rodriguez is in fifth place with 647 and was a question mark to catch Bonds before the recent hip problem surfaced.
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin.