KANSAS CITY -- Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, put on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday with a left hip labral tear, said this injury is very similar to the right hip labral tear he experienced in 2009.
The big difference this time around is Gordon is not considering surgery, as he did in 2009. The surgery kept him out three months. This time around, Gordon is hoping to return much sooner.
"Honestly, it's kind of the same [as 2009]," Gordon said. "But I feel like I'm in a different stage of my career right now and surgery is the last thing I want to do. Hopefully with the [anti-inflammatory] shot, I can play without pain. I know a lot of guys do it."
Gordon said his conversations with the Royals trainers didn't go in depth on the healing process.
"They're pretty optimistic about it," Gordon said. "The first thing they said is that this doesn't have to be surgery. That's a good sign. You hear labral tear and you get down in the dumps but they said it's no surgery and that's OK."
Gordon said he believes the injury occurred during Sunday's game at Cleveland.
"I slid into second and I felt some pain in my hip," he said. "I tried to stretch it out and thought it was just locked up. But it never went away, and I woke up Monday and it hurt worse."
Gordon said he has had orders to do no baseball activities for a few days, but he is anxious to start testing the hip soon.
"I know that a lot of guys play through tears and stuff like that," he said. "We'll see how it goes. ... I guess my strong suit isn't my hips."