Blackmon's season over with knee surgery upcoming

September 29th, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Rockies placed on the 10-day injured list with a torn left meniscus ahead of Wednesday's game in San Francisco. With eight games remaining on Colorado's 2022 schedule, that effectively ends his season.

Blackmon will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair his left meniscus on Monday in Denver. The procedure will be performed by team physician Dr. Thomas Noonan.

For the fiercely competitive Blackmon, it's frustrating to take a step back at this point in the season.

"I don't want to not play," Blackmon said. "I'll have surgery before the end of the season, which is good. I'll get up on the way to recovering. But then I won't be there with the team. ... It just kind of stinks, this being the end of the season. You just don't want to have to miss time."

Blackmon's left knee has been bothering him for about a week. The Rockies' designated hitter said he felt something in his knee when he stepped on a base during the last homestand. Blackmon initially thought it was a fleeting issue, but the pain persisted and eventually became too difficult to play through.

"Charlie's played through a lot of pain in his career, like a lot of players," manager Bud Black said. "It just got to the point where it was not going to be manageable for him."

Blackmon said he had previously undergone the same surgical procedure on his right knee, so he is familiar with the rehabilitation process. He expects to be healthy for Spring Training 2023.

The surgery will likely not interfere with Blackmon's typical offseason training program -- except in one way.

"Instead of having a very active first month of the offseason where I do a lot of cool things, I'll probably just not do all those fun things," Blackmon deadpanned. "Instead, just stay at home and do some rehab."