Angels starter Matt Shoemaker potentially to have surgery for nerve pain in forearm

As he built his arm strength after another setback in his injured forearm, Angels right-hander Matt Shoemaker reported feeling great. But he continually cautioned that no barometer mattered until he could throw without pain for extended periods.

He attempted that for the first time Friday. He threw a simulated inning in a bullpen session, then sat down, waited, and went to throw another. A few pitches into the second inning, the familiar tug near the top of his forearm returned.

“It’s one of those things where, right then and there, I just wanted to run through a wall,” Shoemaker said. “It was a couple rough hours after the bullpen, me being angry and frustrated.”

A team physician broached the possibility of surgery, which Shoemaker said had not been discussed. He has posterior interosseous nerve syndrome, meaning the nerve near the top of his forearm is being compressed, causing discomfort.

Since he first felt pain in the forearm during a June 9 start in Houston, he has received anti-inflammatory injections, undergone therapy and taken time to let it heal.

Nothing has worked.

“In talking with Matt, he’s got a big decision,” manager Mike Scioscia said Saturday. “But he’s come to grips with the fact that he’ll have to have something done. When and where, I think there’s things he’s looking at.”

Asked to clarify, Scioscia said, “It’ll be a surgery.”

“They’ve exhausted every other option,” the manager said.

Scioscia then said he did not want to speak for Shoemaker.

“Surgery is always your last resort,” Scioscia said. “He’s tried everything to get where he needs to be and it’s just not happening right now.”

Shoemaker said he was going to take a “couple days” to research any other options and contact pitchers who have undergone the surgery.

Shoemaker, 30, pitched in 14 games and had a 4.52 earned-run average. He wouldn’t speculate on whether he could pitch again this season.

“I’m always optimistic,” Shoemaker said. “That’s been the goal. But if surgery happens, unfortunately probably not.”

Short hops

Right-hander Alex Meyer is still playing light catch from no farther than 80 feet. Because he has not pitched since July 19 and remains more than a week away from throwing off a mound, he is unlikely to return before September. He has been suffering from shoulder inflammation. … Left fielder Cameron Maybin played the second game of his scheduled rehab assignment for triple-A Salt Lake and is expected back in Anaheim on Sunday, which would have him activated Monday. … The Angels optioned right-hander Daniel Wright to Salt Lake to make room for Tyler Skaggs, their Saturday starter.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

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