Major League Baseball

Corpas to have elbow surgery

Published Sep. 1, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Colorado Rockies right-handed reliever Manuel Corpas will undergo reconstructive Tommy John elbow surgery.

Corpas, placed on the 15-day disabled list last Friday with a sprained ligament in his right elbow, received a second opinion Tuesday from Dr. Lewis Yocum. Corpas is set for surgery next Wednesday and could be sidelined for the entire 2011 season considering the typical recovery time from Tommy John surgery is 12 to 18 months. Team orthopedist Dr. Thomas Noonan will perform Corpas' surgery.

''The results basically confirmed what was said when he got the MRI done and what our doctors reported he had,'' Manager Jim Tracy said.

Corpas has dealt with elbow trouble all season. He left his outing Aug. 25 against Atlanta after he felt pain in his pitching elbow. The 27-year-old Corpas was 3-5 with a 4.62 ERA and 10 saves in 56 outings and 62-1/3 innings for the Rockies this year, his fifth big league season, all with Colorado.

He had pitched in a variety of relief roles this year. Corpas has been dealing with elbow soreness and both the pitcher and his club knew the Tommy John procedure was a possibility to repair his worn ligament.

Also Wednesday, the Rockies activated reliever Taylor Buchholz from the 15-day disabled list and recalled infielder Chris Nelson from Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Both players were available for Wednesday night's series finale in San Francisco.

Buchholz had been out since mid-August with lower back stiffness. He has pitched 10 innings this season, going 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA. The right-hander started the season on the 60-day disabled list as he recovered from a strained elbow. Buchholz missed all of 2009 after having Tommy John surgery.

This will be Nelson's third appearance on the roster this season. He's 2 for 5 with two runs scored.

He was hitting .313 with 12 homers in 85 games for Colorado Springs this season.

Colorado could be closer to getting two other pitchers back, too.

Matt Daley, out since June 16 with an inflamed shoulder, is set to make rehab appearances for Colorado Springs on Friday and Sunday. Both Daley and Jeff Francis threw simulated games Tuesday.

The lefty Francis has been on the DL since Aug. 14 with shoulder soreness. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Thursday and Tracy said his rehab routine would be determined after that.

Francis, 4-4 with a 4.56 ERA in 16 starts, missed the 2009 season after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder in February 2009. He missed the start of this season after experiencing soreness in the shoulder in his final spring training start and went on the 15-day DL on March 26. He made his season debut May 16 and did not miss a start before going on the DL for a second time.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball