Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz revealed that he injured his left shoulder during spring training and has played through the injury for the entire season, telling Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that the pain has gotten progressively worse.
Ruiz apparently suffered the injury while lifting weights in March and Salisbury writes that it bothers him “on certain swings and occasionally when he receives a pitch in a certain location.”
It hasn’t really shown much in his numbers, which include a .258 batting average and .730 OPS that are slightly off from his career numbers but are actually better than what you’d normally expect from a 35-year-old’s decline phase anyway. He has, however, slumped recently.
Ruiz plans to see doctors after the season to determine if he needs surgery. He has two years remaining on a three-year, $26 million contract.
