Taijuan Walker just had surgery, and other Mariners surgery updates

A gaggle of Seattle Mariners players have undergone surgery for various ailments, with Taijuan Walker the latest to join the ill-fated club, Ryan Divish reported on Monday.

Walker joins Steve Cishek and Tony Zych as the latest Mariners to seek medical support. Walker underwent arthroscopic surgery to have a bone fragment removed from his right foot/ankle. Walker was plagued by foot issues all season, and was sent to the disabled list for the issue in June.

He will be able to start rehabilitating the injury immediately, and barring any drastic setbacks, will be more than ready to pitch in February 2017. Walker was initially against the surgery, stating he wanted to work on his mechanics this offseason and didn’t want to impede that process. Unfortunately, the only way to alleviate his foot issues was through surgery.

All three surgeries were planned surgeries for the players as they coped with the injuries throughout the season. Cishek had surgery on Oct. 12 for a torn labrum. Cishek was able to avoid a trip to the disabled list this season thanks to the miracles of cortisone and rehab, but surgery was the only option for a permanent fix. He faces the longest road to recovery out of the three pitchers. Cishek is expected to need four to six months of rehab, meaning there is a good chance he will not be ready to pitch in time for Spring Training.

One day before Cishek’s operation, Zych underwent a right shoulder biceps tendon transfer surgery, and it sounds absolutely terrifying. The Mariners flew him out to New York to have the procedure performed, and Zych is expected to be ready to pitch by Spring Training. Luckily, the operation didn’t involve his rotator cuff. Zych missed most of the 2016 season with issues and tendinitis in his rotator cuff. Dipoto referred to Zych’s surgery as more of a “clean up” (not sure how), but only expects the pitcher to be sidelined for a couple of months.