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LOS ANGELES -- Left-handed relief pitcher Onelki Garcia had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow on Friday, the Dodgers announced on Tuesday. Garcia will be able to begin throwing in five to six weeks.
The procedure was performed by team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, and involved a clean out of his elbow and a bone spur removal.
Garcia was on the Dodgers' Arizona Fall League roster with Glendale, but he only pitched one game for the Desert Dogs, throwing a scoreless inning on Oct. 25.
Garcia will begin rehabilitation immediately, and though the team says he should be competitive by the beginning of the regular season this surgery likely diminishes his chances of making the opening day roster.
The Dodgers drafted Garcia in the third round of the 2012 draft, and he made his major league debut this year on Sept. 11. He threw just four pitches in his first game and was removed after a walk. In three games with the Dodgers, Garcia walked four of his nine batters faced and allowed two runs, including one home run.
Garcia put up a 2.90 ERA in 35 games combined between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Albuquerque, with 67 strikeouts and 35 walks in 62 innings in 2013. He held left-handed batters in the minors to hitting .149 (11-for-74) with no extra-base hits, with 30 strikeouts an 11 walks.
At the moment Garcia is one of just three left-handed relief pitchers on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, joining Scott Elbert and Paco Rodriguez, and Elbert will be out until midseason 2014 after Tommy John surgery.