Red Sox slugger Mike Napoli is know for his amazing beard, but now the first baseman will have to stay clean shaven as he undergoes facial reconstruction surgery.
Napoli will undergo a bimaxillary advancement procedure that will help with him battle his sleep apnea. The procedure involves the doctors moving the upper and lower jaw forward at such an angle that the person’s airway is no longer blocked while sleeping. This collapse of the airway causes lapses in sleep that forces the person to wake up and sometimes choke in their sleep.
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Napoli hinted that he would seek all options when it came to the sleep apnea toward the end of the season and the bimaxillary advancement is often seen as a last resort.
"I've been dealing with sleep apnea for a long time, my whole career," Napoli said "I've tried numerous things and none of them worked. Dental mouth piece, CPAP machine, medicines ... It's just gotten to the point where I have to get this done."
Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington spoke about the procedure and Napoli last month.
"As sleep issues do for people, they tend to get worse as time goes on and (Napoli's) has," Cherington said "It's affected him. So because we have a longer offseason, we may look to work with him on some different ways to manage that going forward. We don't know what that's going to mean yet, but it's something we're working with him on."
Napoli finished the season with 17 home runs and 55 runs batted in for his second year with the Red Sox.
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