ATLANTA -- Mike Minor hasn't thrown a pitch in the big leagues this season, and might not at all after a report surfaced Tuesday stating he'll undergo surgery to repair his shoulder.
Citing multiple sources, Bill Shanks of AtlantaDugout.com reported the lefty will likely miss the 2015 season, and will go under the knife. The medical procedure he'll have performed wasn't reported, but Mark Bowman of MLB.com confirmed the original report and learned Minor will have the operation "later this week."
Minor was shut down shortly after pitchers reported to spring training. He started strong in February, but soon felt discomfort in his left shoulder. An MRI revealed no damage, which put the pitcher on a rest and rehab regimen.
"There's still, they say, there's not really anything wrong structurally, which is good," Minor said in March. "But it's more of, 'Let's just see if this works and kinda ramp you back up.' Hopefully the stretching and shoulder exercises we're really going to knock those out twice a day for the next two weeks. Hopefully that will work out.
"(Dr. James Andrews) said a lot of it's coming from the (rotator) cuff and it might be just weak. There's no tears or fraying, none of that. They just said that maybe it's just weak and it's causing it to pinch a bit."
During Minor's rehab he once again felt discomfort as he was beginning to stretch out his workload. John Hart, Atlanta's director of of baseball operations, told the media on April 12 that the team was searching for answers.
"There is some level of concern because the discomfort came back," said Hart. "I think that's something [exploratory surgery] Mike wants to avoid and I think that's one of the reasons we wanted to bring him up (to Atlanta) was to examine all the alternatives. He wants to get back. He's down there (in extended spring training in Florida) grinding it out and I don't think there's any question he wants to come back without doing anything where you have to go in and scope it. We're not there yet. Not by any stretch of the imagination; we're not there yet."
Exactly a month later, the Braves, and Minor, are apparently ready to move forward with a surgical option.
