Minor out for season after shoulder surgery

Braves pitcher Mike Minor will miss the entire season after having shoulder surgery Wednesday to repair a damaged labrum.

The team said he should be ready for 2016 spring training, but it’s uncertain whether he’ll be back with the Braves.

Minor, 27, had recurring shoulder problems during a career-worst 2014 season, and the pain returned when he increased his throwing at the beginning of spring training. He missed the entire Grapefruit League schedule and opened the season on the 15-day disabled list for the second consecutive season.

The left-hander was transferred to the 60-day DL after his shoulder pain flared up again when he began throwing off a mound in early April after more than a month of rest and rehabilitation.

Multiple MRI exams last year and this spring revealed no structural damage in the shoulder, so Minor decided to have exploratory surgery in Los Angeles with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, now regarded as one of the leading practitioners of elbow and shoulder surgeries on baseball players.

If damage was found during the surgery, the procedure would then become significantly more extensive and the repair done. And that’s what happened. The labrum had a tear and some fraying, and ElAttrache said the surgery was successful and the damage repaired. There was no damager to the rotator cuff.

Minor can finally have peace of mind knowing what was causing the frustrating and painful recurrences of discomfort or pain every time he increased his throwing program to sessions throwing off the pitcher’s mound, the final step before pitching in games. He was told that if all goes well in rehab, he should be able to rehab and increase his throwing in the fall and have a normal offseason in terms of throwing and preparing for spring training.

Still, the surgery more than likely decreases the chances that Minor will be offered arbitration next season by the Braves, who lost a February arbitration hearing against him this year when the pitcher was awarded a $5.6 million salary rather than the $5.1 million proposed by the team.

Minor will be eligible for arbitration again, but he might have to take less guaranteed money as a non-tendered free agent with the Braves or another team and prove that he can bounce back.

The return-to-form rate for pitchers after shoulder surgery is not as good as the high percentage for first-time patients of Tommy John elbow surgery.

Arguably the Braves’ best pitcher in 2013, Minor struggled to a 6-12 record and 4.77 ERA in 25 starts in 2014 after missing most of spring training with what was diagnosed as shoulder tendinitis. The shoulder began barking early in 2013 camp when he increased his throwing program, after Minor had been kept from his usual January conditioning and throwing following Dec. 31 urinary tract surgery.

Minor came to spring training optimistic after a normal offseason of conditioning and throwing. But a week into spring training, he was scratched from his first scheduled start and ended up missing the entire spring schedule. He hasn’t pitched in a game since last September, and was held out of final start in 2013 with the shoulder aching and the Braves eliminated from the wild-card race.