ESPN.com – MLB – Smoltz would retire before more surgery

It’s easy to say that if he can’t pitch 80 innings out of the pen that he couldn’t survive in the starting rotation. But it’s a different role and requires different skills and work habits. It’s possible that with proper treatment the scar tissue might not recur if he’s in the rotation. John thinks so, anyway. It’s something to keep in mind. I am assuming that by “no more surgery” he wouldn’t include minor arthroscopy, which practically everyone seems to do nowadays.