Sounders to Lose Leading Scorer Paul Rothrock for 8 to 10 Weeks

Paul Rothrock is out. Not for a game or two, but for most of what remains of the Sounders' season. Coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed the winger, Seattle's leading scorer, will be sidelined 8 to 10 weeks with a right hamstring injury, a blow that lands on a team already running low on healthy bodies and good results.

Rothrock, 27, went down during the first half of the Sounders' draw with the LA Galaxy last week and did not return after halftime. The club did not learn how serious the injury was until the team got back to Seattle from that trip. The 8 to 10 week window means Rothrock could theoretically be back if the Sounders make the playoffs, but only barely, and only if the club plays its way into the postseason without him first.

That's the cruel part of the timeline. Rothrock has been the one player Schmetzer could count on all year. He had appeared in all but one of the Sounders' 29 matches, started 19 of 22 league games, and led the club in minutes played in MLS with 1,761. Across all competitions he ranks second on the team with 2,194 minutes and first with seven goals, to go with three assists. Losing that kind of workhorse in the middle of a slump is not a small thing.

A Season Defined by the Training Room

Rothrock's injury is not an isolated incident. He is now at least the 12th Sounders player to miss significant time this season because of injury, a number that has pushed the club to start scrutinizing its own training and sports performance operation. Schmetzer did not sugarcoat his frustration when he addressed it after Tuesday's training session.

"You're either talking about really, really, really, really bad luck or something we're doing really, really, really wrong," Schmetzer said. "I don't know where that's going to fall."

That is about as candid as a coach gets in public, and it should worry anyone who follows this team closely. A dozen long-term injuries in one season is not simply bad fortune repeating itself. Schmetzer has said the organization plans a deeper review of its training and fitness practices, though he was clear that any major overhaul is unlikely to happen before the offseason. In the short term, he said the staff is trying smaller fixes, including trimming some training-week workloads while still pushing players to hit high-speed running benchmarks so game day is not the first time they sprint at full speed.

Who Fills In

The Sounders enter this stretch already reeling. They are winless in their last 12 league matches, with a record of 0 wins, 8 losses and 4 draws, and they travel to face Colorado on Saturday. Replacing Rothrock's production and his minutes falls to a short list of options. Sebastian Gomez, who has started five of his last 12 consecutive appearances and who replaced Rothrock at halftime against the Galaxy, looks like the first choice. Paul Arriola is another possibility, though he is still working his way back to full fitness after dealing with his own injury issues this year. The newly signed Caden Clark, who has yet to make his Sounders debut, could also get a look after logging 45 minutes for Tacoma Defiance.

There is no getting around what this means for Seattle down the stretch. A team that cannot find a win in three months just lost the player who had been its most reliable source of goals and minutes, at the exact moment it can least afford it.

More Info

• The Gregg Bell Show (93.3 KJR): Sounders lose leading scorer Paul Rothrock for 8-10 weeks | The Gregg Bell Show (93.3 KJR)
• Sounders lose Paul Rothrock to hamstring injury | Spokesman-Review Sports
• Sounders lose Paul Rothrock to hamstring injury | Seattle Times Sports
• Paul Rothrock likely out 8-10 weeks | Sounder at Heart