HOUSTON (TICKER) —Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal will undergo surgery to repair his strained lower back on Thursday and could miss the rest of the season.
Furcal, who has been out since May 6 with the back injury, had been close to returning to the Dodgers and went 1-for-3 on Monday in his first rehab start with Class AAA Las Vegas.
However, Furcal was forced to leave after just four innings and woke up Tuesday morning with lower back discomfort.
The procedure is called a microdiscectomy and will be performed by Dr. Robert Watkins. Although Furcal will miss at least eight weeks, Dodgers manager Joe Torre expects the surgery to permanently cure the injury after rehabilitation failed.
“Just from all the numbers that I’ve heard, I think it’s probably a minimum of eight weeks,” Torre told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s a blow. But it’s reality.
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— Mags