DiSarcina to Have Surgery on Ailing Shoulder

Unable to explain the recurring weakness in his throwing shoulder, Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina will have exploratory arthroscopic surgery Thursday at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

He will lose at least six more weeks of the season and potentially more, depending on the findings of Dr. Lewis Yocum. DiSarcina already has missed 32 of the club’s 44 games.

Non-invasive diagnostic tools and vascular and orthopedic specialists were unable to pinpoint the cause for DiSarcina’s problems.

“At this point, he hasn’t reported a lot of pain,” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “It’s been more of a weakness. This just doesn’t jibe with normal injuries like [rotator] cuff problems or labrum problems. That’s why they’ve looked for everything else.

“This is not the way you want to rule out something. But they’ve ruled out everything else. It’s kind of the last step.”

DiSarcina missed half of last season with a broken left forearm, suffered in spring training when he was hit accidentally with a fungo bat. He came off the disabled list on June 22 and batted a career-low .229 and committed 15 errors in 81 games.

He returned to camp this year eager to improve on those numbers. He batted .395 in 12 games. But, as his shoulder weakened and he became uncomfortable throwing the ball, he committed five errors.

The Angels will turn in the short term to Benji Gil, who is batting .224 and has committed nine errors in 36 games. If DiSarcina is gone for the season, it appears Justin Baughman will be given a chance to take the job.