BALTIMORE _ Orioles reliever Darren O'Day will have season-ending surgery to repair a strained left hamstring, manager Buck Showalter said before Saturday's mid-afternoon game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Showalter didn't disclose when O'Day was having the surgery or who was performing the procedure, but said that the recovery time is six months.
O'Day is the second key Orioles reliever to be lost for the season because of injury. Left-hander Richard Bleier had surgery to repair a lat muscle tear on his left side earlier this month.
O'Day might have been able to return late this season if he decided against having surgery _ a 10- to 12-week timetable was placed on that recovery _ but Showalter said surgery will likely completely resolve the injury heading into next season.
"It gives you a lot better chance of it not being an issue again," Showalter said of O'Day's decision to have surgery. "That's important."
O'Day received a second opinion from a specialist in Nashville on Friday before deciding whether to have the procedure.
With O'Day's season over, the Orioles not only lose his on-field contributions, but also the opportunity to dangle him as a trade chip. O'Day, who was placed on the 60-day disabled list earlier this week, is in the third year of a four-year, $31 million deal.
He injured his hamstring while coming off the mound to field a ball in the Orioles' 3-2 loss to Seattle on Tuesday. Last week, O'Day didn't pitch over a four-game stretch because of his hamstring, but avoided the DL and returned to make four more appearances before injuring it again.
