Carl Crawford Injury: Why Wrist Surgery Will Plague Boston Red Sox Star

It's hard to believe things could get much worse for the Boston Red Sox after last year's collapse, but it appears they might be without Carl Crawford to start the season.

According to GM Ben Cherington, via Didier Morais of NESN.com, Crawford underwent arthroscopic left wrist surgery in Arizona. 

"

"We're not going to put a timeline on his recovery, but we're optimistic Carl will be progressing in baseball activities as we get into spring training," Cherington said on a conference call with reporters.

"

While it's nice that this is only minor and the Red Sox appear to have dodged a bullet, this isn't good for Crawford, even if he does miss a minimal amount of games. 

Crawford struggled notoriously last season, hitting just .255 with a pathetic .289 OBP and .694 OPS. What's more, he was even worse in April and May, proving that he is prone to slow starts.

And do you know how to counter a slow start?

You work hard in spring training, you start swinging a bat before anyone else does and most importantly, you get your timing down well in advance of the season.

Last year, it took Crawford about two months to get his timing down. And that was after going through full spring training.

Now, assuming that he won't be able to get a ton of work in during spring training, Crawford might not have his perfect timing down until June or July.

All of a sudden, that's half of the season. 

This may be a minor surgery, but it's a major blow to Crawford, who is looking to prove to Boston fans that he deserves the ridiculous amount of money he is making.