CHICAGO –- After a minor offseason procedure to take care of a nagging wrist injury, Paul Konerko said he is as good as new and ready to take on the 2013 season.

In fact, the recovery time was so short that Konerko seemed to have a twinge of regret about not having the procedure done when the wrist started to bother him last season.

“The surgery was a lot easier and way less recovery time than what we thought,” Konerko said. “There was no way of knowing that until we went in there and got it out. But within 10-12 days after the surgery, I felt like I could have played in a game.”


After a hot start in 2012, Konerko started having nagging wrist issues that forced him to miss some games. Instead of surgery in June, he had a doctor stick a needle in his wrist to move a bone chip to a spot that was less irritating.

Konerko returned shortly thereafter, but was never as dominating as he was in April and May. In fact, his .680 OPS in August was the lowest of any month in the season. He was a little better with a .773 OPS over the final month, but that paled in comparison to his 1.123 OPS in April and his 1.074 mark in May.

Had Konerko gone ahead and had that offseason procedure in June and missed just two weeks on the disabled list, there is no telling what kind of production he could have given late in the season as the White Sox faded out of contention.

“That was frustrating in one sense,” Konerko said. “I wish I would have done it earlier, which was probably my own fault. But there was no way of knowing what was going to happen when they went in. It could have been three months. They had to dig in there for what they were looking for. It is what it is. It’s done.”

Konerko hasn’t played much golf this winter, but that’s more a product of having young kids than it is the wrist procedure. He sees no wrist issues moving forward.

“I haven’t had any discomfort or pain, other than at the beginning with the actual scar under the skin that had to heal up,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it as far as giving me any problems on the inside.”