Mueller May Need Surgery on Knee

SAN FRANCISCO — Third baseman Bill Mueller was put on the disabled list Friday, and the operating table might be next.

Mueller’s right knee has bothered him for two weeks. He can handle the pain, but the toll it was taking on his performance prompted him to take 15 days off in the hope that the inflammation will subside.

If it doesn’t, arthroscopic surgery is a strong possibility. He had the procedure on the knee in 2004 and was out from May 19 to July 2. He came back strong and helped the Boston Red Sox to the World Series title.

“Surgery has been discussed,” he said. “This is the same thing I had two years ago.”

Mueller said loose cartilage causes the knee to fill with fluid, which irritates a bone spur. The result is pain when he plants to throw and when he strides to swing the bat.

After hitting .316 through April 28, Mueller is two for 28 and his average has slipped to .252. He has six errors and a fielding percentage of .922, well below his career mark of .960.

Mueller, not the sort to make excuses, admitted the knee has affected his game.

“Coming in on balls, my calf shuts down with pain,” he said. “It’s hard enough to play on two legs.”

The Dodgers have had 10 players spend time on the disabled list this season.

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Although Oscar Robles was recalled from triple-A Las Vegas to fill Mueller’s roster spot, Willy Aybar will get first shot at playing third.

Aybar, a switch-hitter, batted .326 in 86 at-bats last September and was tearing up triple A this year. His performance has been impossible for the Dodgers to ignore.

“He will see a lot of action there,” Manager Grady Little said. “He’s going to have a chance to show us what he can do.”

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Only one Dodger player who witnessed Henry Aaron break Babe Ruth’s career home run record is still with the team: Coach Manny Mota.

Mota was a Dodger reserve outfielder in 1974, watching from the dugout when Aaron drove a pitch by left-hander Al Downing over the left-field fence.

“I didn’t think anybody would ever come close to the Babe,” Mota said. “All I could think of was that it couldn’t happen to a better person. Hank Aaron was under enormous pressure and he handled it in an amazing way.”

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Odalis Perez hasn’t pitched since being banished to the bullpen four days ago when he returned from visiting his sick mother in the Dominican Republic. “We need to get him in a game soon,” Little said.