KANSAS CITY -- Indians starter Danny Salazar is done for the 2018 season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder Monday morning.
The procedure was done in Dallas by Dr. Keith Meister, who performed an arthroscopic debridement and bursectomy on Salazar's right shoulder. In layman's terms, the doctor cleaned up areas of inflammation in the shoulder/rotator cuff area.
Salazar will not throw again for 12 to 16 weeks. While the club is certainly disappointed that he won't be able to step on the mound again this season, the outlook towards Monday's procedure and moving forward is positive.
"It was what we hoped," manager Terry Francona said. "You hoped it was just a cleanup, and not something structural."
"I think it is probably the best possible outcome, because nothing was repaired," head athletic trainer James Quinlan said. "It was cleaned, things were cleaned up. They went in there anticipating it to be just a cleanup, and that's all that was done."
Salazar began the season on the 10-day disabled list after developing shoulder inflammation at the beginning of the year. He was transferred to the 60-day DL in early May, with plans for this surgery to determine his fate for the 2018 season. He'll finish the year having not thrown a pitch.
Heading into this season, Salazar was expected to be a key part of the Indians' rotation, but he injured his shoulder during an offseason workout in January, and he arrived at Spring Training behind the rest of the pitchers. At the time, the club expressed optimism about Salazar making a healthy return, but he has hit several snags in his throwing program in the months since the preseason.
The lingering issues with Salazar's health have hampered him from fully seizing his spot in the rotation. He's missed time with arm problems in each of the past two seasons and he underwent Tommy John surgery while in the Minor Leagues in 2010.
Injury updates
• Left-hander Tyler Olson will pitch on Wednesday after throwing a pair of bullpen sessions over the weekend in Oakland. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list on June 17 with a left lat strain.
• Lefty reliever Andrew Miller threw a bullpen session of 20 pitches on Monday morning, and he will throw again either Tuesday or Wednesday. He was placed on the 10-day DL on May 26 with right knee inflammation, and while his return is believed to be on the horizon, this came as a bit of a surprise.
"That's good, just the fact that he feels good enough to want to get up on the mound," Francona said. "Because we weren't really expecting that until we got home."