Aardsma needs elbow surgery
David Aardsma’s attempt to come back from elbow problems has stalled, and he will need Tommy John ligament replacement surgery.
Aardsma had a magnetic resonance imaging exam on his right elbow Thursday, and Friday the Mariners decided that the only so
lution is surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament. He’ll have the operation late next week in Los Angeles, performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum.
It’s a procedure that typically requires a 12-month recovery period.
Aardma, who saved 31 games for the Mariners last year, seemed on his way
to a successful recovery from January surgery on his left hip. However, his elbow began giving him problems this spring during rehab games with the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers.
An exam in mid-May revealed a Grade 2 sprain of the UCL, an injury that often results in Tommy John surgery. After consulting with Mariners medical officials and Yocum, Aardsma chose to try and avoid surgery and, after a period of rest and therapy, he began throwing a few weeks ago.
He threw 30 pitches off a mound last week in Anaheim but, in his next throwing session a few days later, stopped after 20 pitches.
Aardsma, signed through the end of this season, had surgery Jan. 3 to repair a tear in the labrum of his left hip. He rehabbed through the winter and, while he didn’t figure to begin the season with the team, he expected to return to the closer role at some point when the hip became healthy.
Right-hander Brandon League, who set up for Aardsma last year, has been stellar this season in the closer role. He made the American League All-Star team and entered Friday with 23 saves, second-most in the league.
Aardsma made five rehab outings in late April with the Rainiers, allowing eight hits and seven earned runs in four innings, before he was shut down because of elbow pain.
An MRI revealed the sprained ligament and, after a second exam by Yocum in Los Angeles, Aardsma and the Mariners decided against surgery and put together a plan to rest and rehab.
Friday, that plan was scrapped and Aardsma is looking toward a year of recovery.
Wedge to Mariners: Hit or else
Hitting once again was the topic of manager Eric Wedge’s conversation with the media before Friday’s game. Or, in the case of the Mariners, the lack of hitting.
“There are a lot of positives going on here,” Wedge said. “Hitting isn’t one of them.”
He smiled after he said that, then got serious about the Mariners’ offensive problems. Wedge didn’t name names but he also wouldn’t back away from his season-long statement that certain guys need to improve or they’ll find themselves out of the majors.
“It’s hard for me to understand seeing the same thing over and over again, seeing the same results,” Wedge said. “We’re going to find out who’d going to sink or swim. If you’re up here not squaring up pitches that you should, it’s not going to happen.”
Wedge said the problem isn’t effort. It’s the inability of some hitters to make adjustments and be ready to attack a fastball when they see it.
“The effort is there. The work is there,” Wedge said. “But they’ve got to be brutally honest with themselves. Each individual has to look at himself. You’re either not doing it or you can’t do it. This is big-league baseball, best of the best. The strongest survive.”
Of note
Justin Smoak wasn’t in the lineup Friday, partly because Wedge wanted to give him a day off but mostly so the switch-hitting Smoak could work on problems he’s having while batting left-handed. “I’m confident he’s going to have a pretty good second half,” Wedge said. … Wedge said pitcher Erik Bedard, on the disabled list with a sprained left knee, will throw a bullpen in a few days and probably return to the starting rotation “in the middle of the next road trip.” … Relief pitcher Shawn Kelley, returning from a setback in his recovery from elbow surgery last year, said his right arm felt good after he threw a bullpen on Thursday. Kelley threw 27 pitches, all fastballs, at full intensity in his first bullpen since being shut down in June. He’s scheduled to throw another bullpen Sunday, mixing some breaking balls. … Former DH Edgar Martinez will take part in ceremonies tonight as the Mariners recognize the 10th anniversary of the 2001 team that tied the major league record with 116 victories. Martinez was able to clear up a schedule conflict and will be at the ballpark along with nearly two dozen former players and coaches, along with former manager Lou Piniella. … Catcher Chris Gimenez, on the disabled list after suffering a strained left oblique three weeks ago, played catch Friday for the first time since the injury. … Catcher Adam Moore, who suffered a season-ending right knee injury on April 7, is hitting baseballs off a tee. He isn’t allowed to squat or do any rotational movement with the knee.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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