By Jeffrey Flanagan
FOXSportsKansasCity.com
Royals right-hander Gil Meche's valiant attempt to rehab his ailing shoulder and return to the Royals this season is finished.
Meche on Monday had a disappointing outing in the minors, and returned to Kansas City still experiencing pain in his right shoulder.
"It didn't go real well," manager Ned Yost said of Meche's latest attempt to come back from bursitis. "Still got that pain and irritation in there. Next move is probably to have some surgery on it and see what's wrong and get it fixed. That's probably what will happen."
Asked if that meant an end to Meche's season, Yost indicated yes.
"He still has irritation," Yost said. "I would think it would be, after he gets fully examined by the doctors, a cleaning procedure with some kind of scope to get him better. At that point, we'll be shooting to get him better for next year. We'll have a better grasp once the doctors get to see it completely.
Yost said he spoke with Meche earlier Tuesday.
"He's a little down right now," Yost said.. "He worked very hard to do everything he could do to get back. It's frustrating. But common sense tells you that if you try to keep doing this (rehab) and it doesn't work, you might be jeopardizing him for next year. So, go ahead and get it taken care of right now as soon as we can and be ready for next year."
Yost said he isn't second-guessing any decision to try rehab first, rather than the option of Meche having surgery earlier.
"He pitched well at times this year," Yost said. "We exhausted everything we could do so it wouldn't have to come to this but now we're here and it's time to move forward and get it fixed.
"It's always a blow when you lose a guy who has the capability of winning ballgames like Gil does. But you have to move on. You fix it and you move on. The training staff and Gil did everything they could to avoid this right now, but at this point, get it fixed."
The news was much better on another injured Royals pitcher, right-hander Luke Hochevar, who is recovering from a right elbow sprain.
"Luke is getting stronger," Yost said. "He extended his throwing session to 60 feet and he felt really good. We'll keep him in the strengthening program and hopefully get him ramped up and out on the mound again."
Asked when Hochevar would start throwing off the mound, Yost said, "Soon. Very soon."
Updated July 26, 2010
