Nohelty could miss time this spring

A little birdie from my Gopher baseball insider is that Gophers star outfielder Matt Nohelty is likely to miss all of fall/winter ball, and could possibly be displaced from the lineup for some time with a shoulder injury.

He supposedly tore his labrum in his throwing shoulder this summer, and it wasn't discovered until this past week. He is supposedly going to have surgery later this week.

My source had heard that Nohelty may be used only as a designated hitter next spring. This would be a huge blow to the outfield.

For those not familiar with Nohelty, he was selected by the Twins in the 18th round of MLB draft. However, the money was not there and he came back to the U.

From Gophersports.com:

This past season, Nohelty was named First-Team All-Big Ten. He became the first outfielder in the Big Ten since Sam Steidl (in 2003 & 04) to receive First-Team All-Big Ten honors in back-to-back seasons. Nohelty also received First-Team Academic All-American honors last week for the Golden Gophers. 

On the season, Nohelty batted .397 with 53 runs, 94 hits, four triples, 39 RBI, 24 stolen bases and a .438 on-base percentage. He finished third in the Big Ten in batting average, second in hits, tied for eighth in runs, tied for fourth in stolen bases and tied for sixth in triples. His 94 hits were the most by a Golden Gopher since 1999, and his .397 batting average was the highest by a Minnesota player since Sam Steidl batted .401 in 2001.