By John Manuel
February 15, 2005

Surgery was the last resort for Travis Blackley's injured labrum, and the Mariners resorted to surgery last week, sidelining the lefthander for the 2005 season.

Blackley had a nightmarish big league debut last summer end with a shoulder injury, and the Mariners hoped rehabilitation would take care of the problem. However, a recent MRI showed that Blackley's labrum tear had not improved, necessitating surgery to repair the tear. Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Angels medical director, performed the procedure.

"We thought he could rehab it and he wouldn't need the surgery," said Benny Looper, the Mariners' vice president for scouting and player development. "Once we got a definitive MRI, though, that showed we needed to have him have surgery, that's when we went in that direction.

"It's likely he'll miss all of this season. Hopefully we'll have him ready to go for spring training next year."

Blackley, 22, signed with the Mariners in October 2000 and was the organization's pitcher of the year in 2003, when he went 17-3, 2.61 at Double-A San Antonio. He went 1-3, 10.04 with Seattle in 2004 after a strong Triple-A campaign at Tacoma, when he went 8-6, 3.83. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder has a 36-19, 3.24 career mark in the minor leagues with 466 strikeouts in 473 innings, and he has held opponents to a .226 average.

His brother Adam pitches in the Red Sox system.