New lease on life

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Chris Lutz, a member of the original Gilas Pilipinas team whose PBA career hit rock bottom in the last two seasons because of an injury no local doctor was able to detect, will be officially welcomed today to the Meralco team during practice as the newest Bolt.

But the 6-foot-3 Lutz will not be able to help Meralco out of its Philippine Cup miseries, and actually remains doubtful even for a huge chunk of the next conference as he is still recovering from an injury that only doctors from the United States were able to identify.

Lutz agreed to join the Bolts after being placed by San Miguel Beer in its unrestricted free agent list, but Meralco actually signed up someone who will only be available after three months at the earliest.

“It’s a calculated risk on their part,” said Marvin Espiritu, Lutz’s manager. “They (Meralco) know that he is still injured, and they are not rushing him. He could be available in the latter part of the Commissioner’s Cup.”

Lutz, a gunslinger, sat out almost the last two seasons because of what he thought was a hip injury. Espiritu confirmed that what caused the hip injury was an old ankle sprain in high school in the States that made his hip compensate to take on his body weight.

“It was an ankle instability injury,” Espiritu said. “His left ankle, due to some wear and tear and an old high school injury, made his ligaments [in the ankle] loose and brittle that it could not carry his body and made his hips compensate for that.”

Espiritu acknowledges that this is a new lease on Lutz’s PBA life and that he would need to prove himself again in the very limited time that he has.

Lutz had arthroscopic ankle ligament repair procedure in the US and returned to the country last week and chose from a list of teams that wanted his services once he gets well.

Alaska, TNT KaTropa and Blackwater were the other teams that showed interest in acquiring Lutz, who, Espiritu said, wants to make a grand comeback with Gilas once he gets back to the pink of health.

The Bolts have practically bowed out of contention for a playoff berth in the season-opening conference with a 2-7 record tainted by losses in their last six games.

Lutz, who turns 32 next month, will make his first public appearance with his new team on Friday, when the Bolts battle Rain or Shine.

Meralco assumed the remainder of his San Miguel contract of P350,000 a month that will last until the end of this season, meaning, he would have that much—or little—time to prove himself once again in the PBA.