Report: Yankees’ Mariano Rivera Has Blood Clot In Right Calf

We now have some clarity on the “complication” discovered earlier this week upon examination of Mariano Rivera’s torn ACL — a blood clot has been discovered in Rivera’s right calf, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

The New York Yankees’ closer went to the hospital Monday to choose a doctor for his ACL surgery, and the blood clot was unexpectedly discovered during an exam. Doctors kept Rivera at the hospital overnight to be treated with blood thinners; they now want him to strengthen his knee and regain full range of motion before surgery.

“Maybe it is a blessing,” Rivera said. “I always see it like that. I always say that things happen for a good reason. I was more concerned with the blood clot than the knee. For a minute, I was like, ‘What else can happen?’ To me, it’s a blessing. I didn’t ask why it happened, I didn’t ask how it happened; I asked, ‘How do we deal with it?’ That’s the way I wanted to leave it.”

The future is unknown with Rivera still weeks away from surgery, not to mention rehab, but at the moment, the 42-year-old reliever remains optimistic about returning to the mound in 2013.

“I will do whatever it takes, but if the leg doesn’t come back strong the way I want to, that’s the Lord saying he doesn’t want me to come back,” Rivera said. “If it’s my call, I don’t want to leave the game the way it happened.”