Season over: Nationals' Stammen to undergo elbow surgery
Posted 9/5/2009 12:37 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nationals right-hander Craig Stammen (FSY) will undergo surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, and Washington right-hander Collin Balester (FSY) is being shut down to rehabilitate a left ribcage strain.
Neither is expected to pitch again this season Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said after Friday's 9-6 loss to Florida.
Stammen was scratched from a scheduled Friday night start with elbow soreness and underwent a magnetic resonance imaging test Thursday that revealed the bone spur. Dr. Wiemi Douohuih will perform the surgery at Washington Hospital Center on Sunday.
"He'll be out for about six weeks and then he starts a throwing program," Rizzo said of Stammen. "He'll be fully functional by spring training and should be 100%."
Balester is being shut down because it would take two weeks to recover from the injury and another two weeks to rehabilitate it.
Stammen finished 4-7 with a 5.11 ERA in 19 starts. Balester was 1-4 with a 6.82 ERA in seven starts.
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