An attorney for Alex Rodriguez made the rounds on the morning talk show circuit Monday and again stated the New York Yankees withheld medical information on the embattled third baseman's hip injury during the playoffs last October.
Joe Tacopina reiterated what he told the New York Times over the weekend, insisting the Yankees did not inform Rodriguez about a torn hip labrum that eventually required surgery. The recovery from the procedure kept Rodriguez sidelined for the first four months of the 2013 season.
Rodriguez was benched during the 2012 playoffs for poor performance. He had a mere three singles in 25 at-bats, forcing manager Joe Girardi to twice lift him for a pinch hitter and keep him out of the starting lineup for three games, as New York beat Baltimore in the AL Division Series before losing to Detroit in the ALCS.
The Yankees have called the allegations of hiding an injury completely false and said they would be willing to release Rodriguez's medical records with the slugger's permission.
Tacopina said on ESPN's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" program that tests taken in mid-October revealed the hip injury and the team continued to play him despite the problem. The attorney said only upper management, and not Girardi, knew of the injury.
Girardi has stated he would never have played Rodriguez had he known he was hurt. He defended his player vehemently Sunday night after Rodriguez was hit by a pitch from Boston's Ryan Dempster in the second inning of a 9-6 Yankees win.
Rodriguez, who first took a pitch thrown behind him in his first plate appearance, homered off Dempster in the sixth inning to ignite a four-run frame that put New York ahead for good.
The three-time AL MVP is playing while appealing a 211-game suspension levied against him earlier this month as part of Major League Baseball's Biogenesis investigation.
In 12 games since returning from the hip injury and a controversial quad issue, Rodriguez is batting .319 with a pair of homers and six runs batted in.
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