Arrieta heads West with surgery likely

There was some talk late last year that Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta would have bone spurs removed from his right elbow. He didn't have the procedure performed then, but it might happen later this week. Arrieta is flying to California tonight to meet with Los Angeles Angels physician Dr. Lewis Yocum and he could undergo the procedure on Friday. He is expecting that to be the result of his meeting tomorrow with Yocum. "Yeah. That's kind of the way I feel right now, I just think that, that would probably be in my best interest, just to get it out of there, get healthy and be able to pitch without that pain and discomfort pretty much each time out," Arrieta said before leaving for his flight. He feels the recovery time would likely be minimal. "I've heard there's a couple weeks of down time after the surgery," Arrieta said. "It's a pretty minor scope (arthroscopic procedure), let that area heal and then, you know, I don't know a lot of detail, but I know you just want to get your flexibility back and try to gain some of that mobility that I didn't have before when it was in there. That's pretty much everything I know, I'll learn a lot more tomorrow when I talk to Dr. Yocum again." If his season is over, Arrieta will finish with a record of 10-8 and ERA of 5.05 in 22 starts over 119 1/3 innings. In his last six starts, he went 1-4 with a 6.61 ERA. In a way, he is looking forward to the next few days, to resolve the issue and be able to start working toward returning 100 percent healthy for next season. "Yeah, because I'm optimistic that once it's out of there, I'm going to be able to pitch with a lot less pain or no pain at all. Not saying that I'm not going to go out there and not be sore on any given day, but as far as that pain and discomfort in my elbow from the spur, I think that will definitely disappear," Arrieta said.