Josh Hamilton out two months with more knee problems

Josh Hamilton is having more problems with his left knee and the Rangers announced that he’ll begin the season on the disabled list after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection to aid the healing process.

Hamilton is expected to be sidelined for a total of two months, which means he’d miss all of spring training and the first month of the regular season. He’ll be on crutches for the next couple weeks and assistant general manager Thad Levine indicated that the team will take a very cautious approach with Hamilton’s recovery timetable:

We are giving him an eight-week program because we don’t want to cut any corners. Last year, we may have accelerated things and he suffered the hamstring injury early and it was an issue all year. This way he will get the benefit of a full spring training.

Texas may look into signing a veteran outfielder to fill in for Hamilton, but if they truly think he’ll be able to return healthy and effective by early May there are some younger in-house placeholder options available. Hamilton was limited to just 50 games last season and 89 games in 2014, and the 35-year-old former MVP hasn’t topped a .750 OPS since 2012.

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