SEATTLE -- Seattle Mariners reliever Chris Reitsma will have
surgery on Thursday to relieve pain in his arthritic right pitching
elbow.
Reitsma said he believed the procedure will end his season in
July for the second consecutive year.
"I'm done," a visibly shaken Reitsma said after meeting Monday
afternoon with Mariners medical director Dr. Edward Khalfayan, who
will perform the surgery. The doctor recommended Reitsma's fifth
elbow surgery -- and second in just over a year -- this one an
arthroscopic procedure to remove scar tissue and explore the inside
of the joint.
When asked if he meant done for the season or done for his
career, the 29-year-old who entered last season as the closer for
the Atlanta Braves said, "For the season."
As for retirement, Reitsma, who had a career high 15 saves in
2005 with the Braves, said: "Maybe it's just the card I drew and I
go on with life. I don't know.
"That's one alternative, but it's pretty hard to get my mind
around that right now. ... Basically, I have a 60-year-old's
elbow."
Mariners spokesman Tim Hevly said Monday evening that the team
is not declaring Reitsma out for the season, but at least six
weeks.
The Mariners placed Reitsma on the 15-day disabled list, but
will now be able to free a place on their 40-man roster by moving
Reitsma to the 60-day list. Seattle recalled left-hander Ryan
Rowland-Smith from Triple-A Tacoma.
The Mariners are still trying hard to acquire a proven setup
reliever before -- or even after -- Tuesday's deadline for trading
without waivers.
Reitsma was booed off his home field Sunday while allowing four
runs and five hits and getting just one out against Oakland. He
said he was pitching with pain from essentially bone-on-bone
rubbing in an elbow that is missing almost all of its cartilage.
"I've been taking every kind of medicine to calm it down, pain
pills," Reitsma said. "I showered 10 to 15 minutes every morning
just to get it moving."
Seattle signed the native of Calgary, Alberta, to a $2.05
million contract for this season to be their primary setup man to
closer J.J. Putz. But Reitsma has gone 0-2 with a 7.61 ERA in 26
games. He'd already been on the disabled list twice this season, in
May and June.
"I feel really bad that they thought they were bringing in
somebody they thought they could count on and I let the team down,
I let the organization down," Reitsma said.
Not so, said manager John McLaren.
"This guy tried to pitch with some pain, and I respect him a
lot for that," McLaren said. "There's probably no one I respect
more in that clubhouse than Chris.
"We knew he was hurt. We didn't see the real Chris Reitsma."
In July 2006, Reitsma had surgery to cut a muscle that had
wrapped around a nerve, a rare condition that caused his hand to go
numb.
Rowland-Smith, a 24-year-old native of Sydney, Australia, is in
his third stint with the Mariners this season. He appeared in seven
games in his second time up. In 25 games with Tacoma, he was 3-4
with one save and a 3.67 ERA.