By Matt Snyder

Oakland starting pitcher Dallas Braden had been sidelined since suffering a shoulder injury on April 16, and now he's going to go under the knife. He was attempting to play catch last week in order to get his rehab started, but suffered a setback and then saw a specialist. It turns out Braden suffered a torn capsule in his left (throwing) shoulder and will have surgery to repair it Monday, the A's announced Wednesday afternoon via press release.

There's no word on recovery time, as that won't be known until the procedure is complete, but shoulder surgeries aren't exactly quick turnaround times for starting pitchers. You can count on Braden missing a big chunk of the 2011 season (probably the rest of it).

This is a decent blow to the A's, who are surviving with stellar pitching thus far in the season. They still have Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez at the top of the rotation, but while Brandon McCarthy and Tyson Ross have done an admirable job so far, Braden's a more established arm. It was supposed to be his third full season as a starter, so a big step forward was expected by many.

Braden, 27, gained national recognition last season for an early-season spat with Alex Rodriguez and soon thereafter threw a perfect game against the Rays. He finished 2010 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 11-14 record. In three starts this season, Braden is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 18 innings.

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