In a development that had seemed inevitable from the moment Rafael Furcal's minor league rehabilitation assignment was shut down after one game on Tuesday, the Dodgers shortstop will have surgery on Thursday to have a disk in his lower back partially removed. He is expected to miss at least eight more weeks.
Furcal, who had gotten off to a sizzling start and was batting .366 when he was scratched from the lineup just before gametime on May 6 with what was believed to be a minor back ailment, had appeared to be on the verge of returning on at least two occasions. One was the second weekend of June, when he was all set to go on a rehab assignment only to have back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins tell him he needed to wait at least two more weeks. The other was on Monday, when Furcal finally did go to Triple-A Las Vegas, played four innings at shortstop and went 1-for-3 at the plate. But the next morning, he woke up with more discomfort, and his rehab was shut down.
The question for Furcal, who will have the offending disk partially removed, is how quickly he can recover, rehabilitate and return from the surgery. The question for the Dodgers is where they go from here. The Punch-and-Judy tandem Angel Berroa and Luis Maza is sharing the shortstop duties for now, and miscast power hitter Matt Kemp is the closest thing to a leadoff man the Dodgers have with Juan Pierre out four to six weeks with a sprained ligament in his left knee.
Infielder Nomar Garciaparra, who is rehabbing at Las Vegas, is playing shortstop there, a position he hasn't played since 2005. He is expected to rejoin the Dodgers when they begin their final homestand of the first half on Monday night against Atlanta.
"I certainly like Nomar at shortstop, but I certainly am not thinking about (playing him there) on an everyday basis," manager Joe Torre said. "I don't think that would be fair to him, especially with how long it has been since he has been over there. We'll try to figure it out and probably piecemeal it for now."
Torre also said Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has been trying for a while now to acquire a shortstop from outside the organization but that the search has mostly centered on reserve-caliber players. Now, Colletti undoubtedly will be looking for an everyday guy whom Torre can plug in until Furcal returns -- or perhaps longer if Furcal never does.
"We need him back, but the most important thing is he has to get well and feel comfortable going out there and playing," Torre said.
DODGERS 4, ASTROS 1: Hiroki Kuroda came off the 15-day disabled list and pitched seven shutout innings on just 83 pitches. He allowed five hits before turning it over to rookie Cory Wade, who gave up a home run to Carlos Lee but otherwise didn't allow a baserunner over the final two innings. Jeff Kent had two RBI doubles, and Andre Ethier went 3-for-5 with a double and his eighth home run of the season.
