C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

BALTIMORE — Reds starter Homer Bailey will have surgery to repair a tear in the flexor mass tendon of his right forearm on Friday.

"The unfortunate thing is we tried the conservative approach with the flexor tendon and unfortunately it's not healing," Reds head athletic trainer Paul Lessard said on Thursday. "So the decision was to repair that tendon (surgically). Dr. (Timothy) Kremchek will be doing that tomorrow."

Bailey, 28, hasn't pitched since Aug. 7 when he beat the Indians at Great American Ball Park. He complained of tightness in his forearm and the Reds tried to skip him in the rotation to see if rest would help, but he went on the disabled list on Aug. 16. The Reds transferred him to the 60-day disabled list on Monday to make room for September call-ups.

The Reds hope Bailey will be ready to participate in spring training and start the season with the team.

The injury is similar, but less severe, to the one Jonathan Broxton had in 2013. Broxton had surgery in August and started the season on the disabled list, but only missed the first week of the season and pitched well for Cincinnati before the Reds traded him to Milwaukee on Sunday.

"I don't know the specifics, but he should be just about ready to go for spring training," Lessard said.

Bailey went 9-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 23 starts. Before the season, Bailey signed a six-year contract extension for $105 million.

"I'm certainly disappointed, typically that's a last resort, but also in this case it does help answer some questions," said Reds manager Bryan Price, the team's former pitching coach. "It seems to me to be the best option — it's unfortunate we won't have him this year, but it does seem to suggest that we'll have him for the bulk, if not all, of next season."