MINNEAPOLIS — Scott Baker's 2012 season is already over.
Baker, one of the Minnesota Twins' best pitchers last season before he was sidelined with an elbow injury, will have surgery on that same right elbow to clean up the flexor pronator tendon, the team announced Wednesday. Twins general manager Terry Ryan said the rehab process for that type of surgery is six months, meaning Baker won't pitch in 2012.
"Nobody hates this more than me. So it's tough," Baker said Wednesday. "What's going on right now, I just know two things: It's painful and it's affecting my ability to be effective in a major league baseball game. What do you do when that's the case? You have to get it taken care of."
Baker had an MRI on his elbow Friday and sought a second opinion by Dr. David Altchek in New York, who also will perform Baker's surgery. Baker reiterated Wednesday that Altchek told him the ligament in his right elbow looked "great."
"He said there's no need to mess with that," Baker said. "I haven't had any discomfort there, which is a good thing."
Baker wasn't sure when the surgery will be done, but said he hopes to have it performed "ASAP."
"We're going to get this done sooner rather than later," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. "This isn't exactly the news that any of us wanted to hear. Scotty doesn't. I don't. The club doesn't. But this is where it is going to go. We're going to get it taken care of, then we are going to do the therapy and the rehab under our guidance, and hopefully he'll be ready to go for the 2013 season."
The Twins have a $9 million club option on Baker's contract for the 2013 season, meaning 2012 was an important season from a contract standpoint for the 30-year-old Baker. Now that he'll miss all of this season, the chances that Minnesota would pick up his option seem unlikely.
Baker was asked whether he had thought about his contract situation, and if he wondered whether he had thrown his last pitch for the Minnesota Twins, the team that drafted him in 2003
"I can't think about that right now," Baker said. "The Twins are all I've known, and obviously I enjoy it here, so I hope that's not the case. But I just have to really focus on getting healthy."
Baker started the 2011 season by posting an 8-5 record with a 2.88 ERA through his first 18 starts. But his elbow problems flared up in early August and limited the Twins' most productive pitcher for the rest of the season. He went on the disabled list twice last year with elbow issues, and he said Wednesday that his latest elbow problem is the same as the one that kept him out in 2011.
Because of the injury last year, Baker made just 21 starts, the fewest since 2006. He missed almost all of August and made just two relief appearances in September last year.
"It's something that I've been battling for a while," Baker said. "I don't mind pitching through pain, as long as you don't have the chance to further the injury. But when it comes to a point where your velocity's not there and you don't have the ability to finish pitches like you know you're capable of doing, then something's got to be done."
In seven seasons with the Twins, Baker has posted a record of 63-48 with a 4.15 ERA in 159 career starts. He won a career-high 15 games for Minnesota in 2009 and went 12-9 the following season.
With Baker out for the year, the Twins are left to find someone to fill his spot in the rotation. Minnesota is also waiting for the return of Jason Marquis, who is pitching in the minor leagues after missing time during spring training.
Ryan said he expects Marquis back soon, and the Twins will promote a pitcher to the rotation from within the organization. Right-handers Anthony Swarzak and Liam Hendriks remain the top two options to assume the starting role. Hendriks was originally scheduled to start Sunday against Baltimore but fell ill with food poisoning. Swarzak started in his place and has made 24 career starts with the Twins.
"Our big issue has not been pitching. We haven't hit too much," Ryan said. "Our pitchers have done a relatively decent job here. So let's give these guys a chance to settle in and see exactly what we've got in the rotation."
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