JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins reliever Carter Capps, experiencing discomfort in his right elbow, is scheduled to consult with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday in Pensacola, Fla.
Capps is hoping to avoid surgery, but he expects to have a better understanding of his options after meeting with Andrews.
"I'm just going to talk to him then and see where we stand on things, and see what his thoughts are," Capps said on Thursday morning. "I'm sure he will read my MRI at some point."
Capps, who entered Spring Training competing with A.J. Ramos for the closer's role, felt pain in his elbow while warming up in the bullpen on Sunday. He was preparing to face hitters in live batting practice, but he immediately stopped throwing.
"It was weird. It just kind of crept and felt like just tightness and then it started progressing to a little something more," Capps said. "I never felt a pop or anything."
An MRI was taken on Monday, and the results were sent to Andrews for a second opinion.
Asked what the MRI revealed, Capps said: "Not much. They look at the MRI and say, 'Well, there is some stuff there.' But is it old, is it new? You never know. I'm going to get his opinion, because he did read my [MRI] a couple of years ago."
Capps missed substantial time in 2014 with an elbow injury. He met with Andrews that year, and surgery was not recommended.
"I had a second opinion from him two years ago and he strongly advised against surgery then," Capps said. "You never know what they're going to say or anything. We're still kind of in the wait-and-see phase. He knows his stuff. I'm excited to see what he has to say."
Capps, 25, emerged as a late-inning force in 2015, posting a 1.16 ERA while striking out 58 batters in 31 innings in a setup role. He's among the hardest throwers in the game. Capps' fastball averaged 98.1 mph last season, according to Statcast™.
Capps' 2015 season was cut short after he exited a game on Aug. 2, his 30th appearance of the year, due to a right elbow strain. He appeared in 17 games and spent time on the disabled list in 2014.
Capps hadn't experienced any sharp pain in the elbow until his warmups on Sunday.
"On the mound, the stuff comes out pretty good," Capps said. "It's just really painful right at the end right now. I'm going to see what is the problem there.
"Peace of mind would be nice. I don't know what's going on there.
"Obviously, you never want to go have surgery or anything. My take is I don't want to do anything, but you've got to do what you've got to do. We'll see what [Andrews'] opinion is. He's seen thousands of these things. He knows best."
Whether surgery is recommended or not, manager Don Mattingly noted Capps will miss an extended amount of time.
"It's something we have to be able to overcome," Mattingly said. "We have a lot of guys with good arms. We're going to have an opportunity for guys to step forward and take on a role."
Bryan Morris, Kyle Barraclough and Brian Ellington are hard-throwing right-handed late-inning options.