Bedard to have shoulder surgery

Bedard to have shoulder surgery
September 17
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"The saga of Erik Bedard's shoulder has been in the background of the Mariners season all summer.

Bedard, who hasn't pitched since July 4, has spent 2 1/2 months trying to avoid surgery after suffering tightness in his left shoulder.

Tuesday the Mariners and Bedard acknowledged rest and rehabilitation had failed. The club and the pitcher agreed exploratory surgery is the best option. Dr. Lewis Yocum will perform the operation Sept. 26.

The left-hander had surgery on his left elbow in 2003.

"I'm not concerned with surgery," Bedard said Tuesday after the Mariners' 6-3 loss in Kansas City.

Other than that, Bedard put off talking about the process for the time being, leaving that to others.

"The tipping point was how late in the season it is and the amount of progress he was making," general manager Lee Pelekoudas said. "Rehab is always the first option. But at some point, you have to determine what kind of progress you are seeing."

Yocum, one of the top experts in arthroscopic shoulder repair, will debride the labrum of Bedard's left shoulder, a process in which he will remove any damaged tissue or foreign material.

Yocum examined Bedard twice in recent weeks, once in mid-August and again last weekend when the Mariners were in Anaheim to play the Angels. He and the Mariners medical crew agreed not enough progress was being made.

"Erik explored all the opportunities to throw," manager Jim Riggleman said. "He just didn't make enough progress, so now we have to take this option."

The timetable for the rehabilitation won't be announced until after the surgery, but Pelekoudas said Tuesday night that he expects Bedard to pitch for the Mariners in 2009.

"We expect we'll have him available to pitch next year," Pelekoudas said. "But we won't know until the doctors go in and see what's there.""


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