Paco Rodriguez will have surgery after all, miss 8-10 weeks.

Paco Rodriguez mugshotMIAMI — Dodgers pitcher Paco Rodriguez will have arthroscopic surgery Thursday to remove loose bodies in the back of his left elbow. He is expected to miss approximately 8-10 weeks.

Rodriguez has known for weeks that he had a bone spur in the elbow (a bone spur can become a “loose body”) that would eventually require surgery. But he was able to pitch four scoreless rehab innings over four games recently with Triple-A Oklahoma City, leaving open the possibility that Rodriguez could return to the majors right away. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly even said Friday that Rodriguez would join the team in Arizona, where the Dodgers begin a three-game series Monday.

Now that Rodriguez is at least two months away from competition, his season is in jeopardy.

Mattingly said he “would think” Rodriguez could return in time to pitch for the Dodgers in the playoffs, should their season get that far.

The manager mentioned left-handers Daniel Coulombe and Ian Thomas as possible replacements on the Dodgers’ bullpen depth chart. “Depending on what our situation is,” he said, “there’s another couple guys we could use.”

Rodriguez had appeared in 18 games this year, almost exclusively as a situational lefty. Right-handed hitters had a .292/.333/.333 slash line against Rodriguez, left-handers a .214/.267/.286 slash line.

In four professional seasons, all with the Dodgers, Rodriguez has made 33, 78, 51 and 22 appearances across all levels.

“It’s disappointing for us and for him, obviously,” Mattingly said. “He actually threw the ball in his rehab really well, but it sounded like from having conversations with Stan that it was back to the same feeling of not being able to let (the ball) go, which led him to be honest with Stan (Conte, the Dodgers’ director of medical services) how he was feeling.”

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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.