Vicente Padilla will have neck surgery on Thursday and be out an "extended period of time," the Dodgers announced before Monday's game with the Reds. It will be the second surgery this season for Padilla, who underwent arm surgery in February to free up an entrapped nerve. He began the season on the disabled list before getting activated on April 22.
Padilla pitched nine games in relief for the Dodgers, collecting three saves and putting up a 4.15 ERA in 8 2/3 innings. However, he was placed on the DL again retroactive to May 14 with irritation in the same right radial nerve that required surgery. Padilla was set to return from the DL on June 3 in Cincinnati but he reported the same neck pain that caused him to miss most of the last two months of 2010.
Padilla signed an incentive-laden deal for 2011 that will pay him a $2 million base salary, plus incentives of up to $6.8 million in incentives for relief appearances or up to $8 million in incentives for starting. However, it appears Padilla will hit none of those incentives now.
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