Sioux City X outfielder struggles with shoulder surgery, CNOS doctor credits for getting him through final season

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – If you’ve been to a Sioux City Explorers game in recent years, his name will be familiar, but an injury nearly took him out of the game.

“I played for Sioux City for three and a half years.” Chase Harris was a star for the Sioux City Explorers.

Quick on his feet in the outfield and powerful at the plate until something happened.

“I ran after the ball in the center of the field and felt something. It just wasn’t right. It wasn’t like excruciating pain, but it just wasn’t,” Harris recalls.

Suffered an injury during the 2022 season, including a torn labrum on his pitching hand.

“I could throw about 90 feet without pain, but as soon as I tried to throw farther than that and really throw as hard as I could, it was excruciating pain, tingling all over the tip of my finger,” Harris said.

With more baseball opportunities, the CNOS team helped him finish the season. “It all started with a few injections to ease the pain a bit and help me get through the season.” He played the 2023 season with an injury, but in order for Harris to continue playing the game he loved, he needed surgery. He turned to Dr. Brian Johnson of CNOS.

“He had six bucket-type SLAP tears, so it’s not a very common tear, and it was the upper lip, front to back. That’s what SLAP stands for,” explained Dr. Johnson of Harris Grade 4 tears. “And his biceps, the fulcrum in the shoulder, was unstable and allowed the biceps to rotate. The long end of the bicep rotates like a loose cannon.”

This cannon in the hands of Harris was disabled. Although he could still play, his strength was sapped by the injury.

Even everyday tasks caused pain in his hand.

“It would hurt. If you had hair. Every time you did your hair, it hurt. Any time you reach up to grab something above your head, reaching behind your body, reaching behind your back, things like that,” Johnson said. “These things are going to hurt.”

Harris wanted to play one more season of baseball to play 10 years professionally. A surgery was needed to achieve this goal. Because he was over 30 years old, the repair of his shoulder was a little different. Instead of repairing what was broken, Dr. Johnson protected what was good.

“We performed rehabilitation and freed part of the biceps that was attached. And so we cleaned out all the loose tissue and followed carefully everything that is normal, including releasing 1/6 of his biceps. Five/sixths of his biceps were normal and we left it alone,” said Dr. Johnson. “But one part that flips is the part we got rid of.”

Some of the nation’s top athletes have faced the kind of surgery that Harris faced.

“John Elway, the first two Super Bowls he ever won came after his biceps were released. Bret Farve, his season with the Vikings, when he was in the NFC Championship, his biceps were released in his throwing arm,” Dr. Johnson said of the surgery he performed on Harris. “So when you get to that age, even in athletes who throw high-demand events, you can relax your biceps in that situation and perform well.”

Harris completed his recovery and physical therapy at home in Idaho during the offseason before returning to Sioux City for one final season, and the researchers credited Dr. Johnson’s success last season and his dedication to helping athletes stay in the game. .

“He took such good care of me. I wanted to play. It was my last year. I knew I wanted this to be my 10th professional season. It’s like I’m done with the decade,” Harris said.

Dr. Johnson, an athlete himself who played football at the college level and suffered his fair share of sports injuries, says it’s about keeping local athletes in the game.

“Taking care of good people is a privilege. And sport gave me a lot in life. Playing on the football field taught me so many lessons that you will never learn in a book. And it’s a privilege to take care of good athletes,” said Dr. Johnson.

Harris finished his career in Chicago after being traded from the Explorers to the Salt Dogs. Harris said that with this type of injury, athletes experience not only physical pain, but also mental pain. He credits Dr. Johnson with helping him through that part of the road to recovery as well.

“It’s more than just an injury. It’s mental, it’s emotional, all those things,” Harris said. “He understands athletes. He understands the mental strain it can cause. And he also understands that if you’re not feeling 100%, as an athlete it can be frustrating because you feel like you’re not performing at your best when you’re injured.”

Recovery from an injury, especially one that requires surgery, can take months, even years. Dr. Johnson says the right mindset during recovery is also an important part of the process.

“Facts do not concern our feelings. And when I played, I wish yesterday was better. I would like to get well soon,” said Dr. Johnson. “But my feelings do not manipulate the facts. And so if it’s true, let these facts help you and heal you intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, because it won’t touch it physically. I’m going to say, “I’ll be fine within a year,” and that’s a fact, Jack. And let that motivate you to get the best out of your situation.”

Harris has now retired from professional baseball and lives in Idaho with his family.