A’s reliever Bobby Wahl, who has spent most of this season on the disabled list after experiencing shoulder discomfort in May, will visit vascular surgeon Dr. Gregory Pearl in Dallas this week.
Pearl is a specialist in thoracic-outlet syndrome, in which there is compression of arteries, veins or nerves in the area from the neck to the armpit, a condition that has affected numerous pitchers in recent years, including Matt Harvey, Josh Beckett, Chris Carpenter, former Giants starter Noah Lowry and former A’s starter Tyson Ross.
The condition requires surgery, and the track record for the procedure is a mixed bag; not all pitchers have returned (including Lowry) and several that have experienced a significant velocity dip.