Carlos Silva underwent successful cardiac ablation today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
Silva left last Monday’s game against the Rockies due to shortness of breath and was subsequently diagnosed with an abnormal heart rate. I’m not expecting many of you to know what most of this medical jargon means, because I sure don’t, but many of the Cubs’ beat writers have been quick to recall that Mark DeRosa underwent the same procedure during spring training in 2008 and was able to return to action two weeks later. Doesn’t mean Silva will be back just as quickly, but food for thought, anyway.
Silva was released from the hospital after a period of brief observation and will begin light physical activity this week. He could begin a throwing program early next week.
The 31-year-old right-hander has regressed quite a but lately, but with a 3.92 ERA and 1.24 WHIP through 20 starts, he certainly qualifies as one of the season’s most surprising individual performances.