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Snyder feels better after back surgery

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By Steve Gilbert / MLB.com

09/28/09 7:20 PM ET

PHOENIX -- Chris Snyder noticed the difference almost immediately.

The D-backs' catcher underwent microdiscectomy surgery on his back on Wednesday, and not long after the anesthesia wore off he knew his back was better.

"It's completely different now," he said by phone Monday. "I feel much better. Obviously, it's still sore from where they did the incision, but as far as what I felt before, that's gone. There's no more shooting pain down my leg."

Snyder's back has bothered him almost all season, and it finally landed him on the disabled list June 23. If he had to do it all over again, Snyder would have had the surgery at that time and possibly missed the rest of the season.

Instead, he returned July 28 after a short Minor League rehab stint.

"It was miserable playing through it," Snyder said. "It was awful to get to the park and not be able to do what I usually do like study film of opposing hitters, maybe take some extra hacks in the cage. Instead, it was just constant work on my back trying to get better when I wasn't getting better. Our trainers were working countless hours doing everything they could, and in the end it turned out the last option was the surgery and that's got it right."

Snyder not only lost time on the field with the injury, but it looks as if he also lost his starting job. Snyder signed a three-year $14.25 million contract extension that included a club option for 2012 in December and was expected to be part of the D-backs' future behind the plate.

But Miguel Montero played exceedingly well in Snyder's absence and appears to be the starter going forward.

"It's something that's ingrained in an athlete -- you try to play through it," Snyder said. "After doing that contract, I didn't want to go out the first year and have a bad year and end up sitting out with an injury. So I tried to do everything I could to play through it, and it was a stupid decision."

Snyder said he was told that some athletes can recover from the type of surgery he had in as little as six weeks, but with Spring Training months away, he plans on being cautious this time around. He'll probably start doing baseball activities in January, which is around the time he begins them in a normal offseason.

"I'm fortunate in that I have a lot more time, and we can be very conservative," he said.

One thing that will not be normal for Snyder this offseason is his conditioning program. No longer will he participate in mixed martial arts.

"I'm going to take the less-impact approach and go with yoga this year," he said. "I've lost so much flexibility this year that I'm going to try yoga and see if I can improve that."

Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.