Surgery changes Arroyo's retirement plans

PHOENIX -- Bronson Arroyo will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Thursday, making him the fifth D-backs pitcher to have the surgery in the past two seasons, and third this year. Daniel Hudson has had it twice.

Any thought of Arroyo retiring early went by the boards with the decision to undergo the surgery, the veteran said.

"I was thinking I might retire at 39 when this [two-year] contract is up, but not anymore," said the veteran right-hander, who is 37. "If I'm going to spend a year rehabbing, I'm going to pitch until I'm 45 if I can. Let's see how it goes."

Arroyo will join Hudson, Matt Reynolds, Patrick Corbin and David Hernandez on the Tommy John rehab treadmill. The D-backs have the righty under contract next season at $9.5 million, with an $11 million option and a $4.5 million buyout for 2016. So it's possible he could pitch again for Arizona.

Corbin and Hernandez had the surgery earlier this year. Considering the usual 12-18-month recovery period, they are not expected back until mid-to-late next season.

Hudson and Reynolds are in different stages of their recoveries. Both are throwing to a certain extent, but neither should be back in the Majors until September, if at all this season, D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said on Wednesday before his club closed a three-game set against the Marlins at Chase Field.

"Well, basically Daniel is just starting to throw again," Gibson said. "He just went through a period where they shut him down again. He'll start throwing aggressively this time through the cycle. Reynolds just got off that cycle and he threw a bullpen yesterday. We're probably optimistically looking at September. Hopefully they can throw some in September, just enough to know they'll be good. We'll shut them down again after the season."

Hudson and Reynolds said on Wednesday that they felt fine and were progressing well in their rehab phases. Neither has been advised of any timetable for a possible return. Corbin, who had the surgery at the end of March, said he's at least three months away from even picking up a baseball.