Varitek: Surgery Tomorrow Morning

Jason Varitek spoke to the media this afternoon. "My understanding is it's outpatient [surgery]. I'll have it done tomorrow morning and be out mid-afternoon. ... I'm not going to disappear. Dougie and I will continue to communicate… I'll try and help in any way that I can right now."

Will Carroll, who writes the Under The Knife column for Baseball Prospectus:

Jason Varitek pulled up at second base and hopped, tellingly. What happened was that his deceleration led to a small, probably pre-existing tear of his meniscus coming loose and "locking." There are several reasons this happens; the most likely for a catcher in his thirties is that the meniscus wore down over time and a small piece of cartilage was floating inside the knee or hanging by a flap. It moved into a position where it "caught," giving a small resistance to normal movement or pushing against one of the articular surfaces, felt as grinding in the knee. The surgeons will go in with a scope, wash out the knee, remove any free or hanging pieces of cartilage, and slap a bandage on the opening. To call this a minor procedure is overstating it. While no surgery is minor if it's performed on you, this is as minor and easy as surgery ever gets. Varitek should be out about three weeks ...

Jason Johnson will start on Sunday and Kyle will stay in the bullpen for now. ... Manny Delcarmen could available tonight. ... David Ortiz was named American League Player of the Month for July. In 26 games, Ortiz batted .339 / .429 / .798, with 14 home runs with 35 RBI.