Surgery Is Scheduled for Escobar

Kelvim Escobar will undergo arthroscopic surgery to shave down the bone spur behind his right elbow this week, a procedure that will sideline the Angel right-hander for at least two months and give rookie right-hander Ervin Santana an extended stay in the Angel rotation.

After throwing a two-inning, 35-pitch simulated game Friday, Escobar spoke enthusiastically about beginning a minor league rehabilitation assignment at triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday.

But Escobar’s hopes dimmed when he did not feel nearly as good as he thought he would in the wake of his workout. Saturday afternoon, Escobar said he would have to slow the pace of his comeback, build up more arm strength and polish his mechanics before pitching in a minor league game.

But after Escobar was examined by team physician Lewis Yocum early Saturday evening, the Angels announced in the first inning of the game against the Dodgers that Escobar would undergo surgery.

“We got together and I told the doctor I expected to feel a lot better,” Escobar said. “It was sore. Can you imagine if it was a real game?”

Doctors told Escobar that he should be able to begin rehabilitating his elbow five days after surgery and pitching again in eight weeks. He will not travel with the team on the upcoming trip to Texas and Kansas City.

“It’s frustrating because I want to get out there so badly,” said Escobar, who has been on the disabled list three times this season and has been limited to seven starts.

Escobar, who had surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow in 1997, opened the season on the DL because of an elbow sprain and went on the DL May 12 because of the bone spur. He returned 16 days later but made only three starts before going back on the DL June 9.

Escobar considered having surgery then, thinking it would eliminate the nagging problem and enable him to return in early August, but he put it off, hoping rest and rehabilitation would allow him to make it through the season. That decision cost him another two weeks, and the earliest he will return now is late August.

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General Manager Bill Stoneman said Escobar’s injury would not send him into the trade market in pursuit of a starting pitcher. Despite Santana’s inconsistency, the Angels will stick with the hard-throwing 22-year-old for now.

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Manager Mike Scioscia said he “couldn’t remember a popup being hit any higher” than the infield fly Dallas McPherson hit in the fifth inning Friday night, a ball that Dodger third baseman Antonio Perez lost in the twilight and shortstop Cesar Izturis dropped for an error.

“I remember Mike Schmidt hit one that went straight up, stayed up for a while and came down with frost on it,” said Scioscia, the former Dodger catcher. “But [McPherson’s pop] was the highest I’ve ever seen.”