LOS ANGELES — Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, out since May with a bruised elbow, will have arthroscopic surgery Monday to reduce a spur on his right elbow and remove loose chips.

Dodgers trainer Stan Conte says the procedure is a minor cleanup that will allow Broxton to head into his offseason throwing program without impediment.

However, Broxton’s days with the Dodgers could be nearing an end. His rehabilitation has been slowed by setbacks to his elbow and a sore back.

Broxton pitched just 12 2-3 innings this season, when he made $7 million. He is eligible for free agency after the World Series.

Javy Guerra and Kenley Jansen emerged as capable late-inning relievers in Broxton’s absence, making the two-time All-Star expendable. He was 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA and seven saves this season after compiling 58 saves over 2009 and 2010.

Broxton is the latest Dodgers player to have his season ended early because of injury. Right fielder Andre Ethier had minor right knee surgery on Wednesday. Third baseman Casey Blake (neck), right-handers Rubby De La Rosa (elbow), Jon Garland (shoulder) and Vicente Padilla (neck) and left fielder Juan Uribe (sports hernia) also have had surgery.

Conte said Friday that the team wasn’t aware of the loose chips in Broxton’s elbow until he had another MRI and a CT scan. He’s expected to resume throwing in six weeks.

Conte said the bone bruise, the spur and the loose chips were within centimeters of each other and were all related.

“It’s sometimes difficult to know where the pain is coming from,” Conte said.

Manager Don Mattingly said the surgery is “good news” for Broxton, adding that, “It explains what’s been going on.”

Meanwhile, left fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. will be out a couple days after a MRI revealed he jammed his left shoulder in a headfirst slide during a game in Washington, D.C., last week.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled right-hander John Ely and infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr., both from Triple-A Albuquerque, before Saturday’s game with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

They will take the roster spots of pitcher Jon Garland and shortstop Rafael Furcal, both of whom were placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right-shoulder inflammation and a left-oblique strain, respectively.

Ely was called up earlier this season, but made just one start, on April 10 at San Diego, before being sent back down. He is 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA in 10 starts for the Isotopes this season. His callup, which was necessitated by veteran Vicente Padilla not being ready to come off the DL because of pain in his neck, leaves the Dodgers with only one pitcher on their 40-man roster who isn’t either in the majors or on the major or minor league disabled list. That pitcher, Luis Vasquez, has never pitched above Class A.

DeJesus’ callup, his third of the season, figures to be a short one. Veteran infielder Juan Uribe becomes eligible to come off the DL on Sunday, although club officials weren’t planning on activating him until Monday before Furcal suffered his latest injury in the bottom of the second inning of Friday night’s game with the Reds.

DeJesus is hitting .268 for the Isotopes, but has batted just .194 (6-for-31) with no extra-base hits, during his two big league stints.

Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Follow Tony Jackson on Twitter: @dodgerscribe

Read More: Vicente Padilla (P – LOS), Jon Garland (P – LOS), Jamey Carroll (2B – LOS), Rafael Furcal (SS – LOS), Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds, Jun 3, 2011 4:10 PM PDT

The 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers are getting hurt at an alarming rate. Rafael Furcal is the latest to get bitten by the injury bug, as he left Friday’s game after just two innings. Furcal injured his left side while making a force play in the bottom of the second inning, then was replaced in the top of the third inning by pinch hitter Jamey Carroll, who remained in the game at shortstop. The Dodgers list Furcal as day-to-day, though the club is no stranger to the disabled list this season.

Furcal already lost significant time this season, missing 37 games with a broken thumb. Since his return, Furcal has nine hits in 40 at-bats in 10 games, though eight of those hits came in the four games prior to tonight. Furcal isn’t the only injury the Dodgers are dealing with.

Vicente Padilla was supposed to be activated off the disabled list before tonight’s game, but no move was made before the game. The corresponding move is expected to be starter Jon garland to the disabled list, which would be the 17th different DL trip for the Dodgers this season. However, either Padilla isn’t quite ready or the Dodgers aren’t sure Garland will miss two or three starts. Or we could see a move after the game.

The Dodgers lead the Reds 1-0 in the fifth inning at Great American Ballpark.

For more news and information about the Dodgers, or on tonight’s game, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.

CINCINNATI — Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Jon Garland, who hadn’t been on the disabled list in 11 years until this spring, is expected to be placed there for the second time this season with a right-shoulder injury, the severity of which isn’t immediately known, according to two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The move clears a roster spot for right-hander Vicente Padilla, who is expected to be activated from his second DL stint of the season. He was put there on May 19 with irritation of his right radial nerve.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly acknowledged that the move is coming, but said it wouldn’t officially be made until just before the start of Friday night’s game with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park so as to make sure that Padilla is fully ready to return.

Meanwhile, Mattingly said rookie right-hander Rubby De La Rosa will take Garland’s spot in the starting rotation for now, meaning he will get the ball on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Phillies. De La Rosa was the organization’s top pitching prospect when he was recalled from Double-A Chattanooga on May 24 and has since allowed a run on three hits over five innings during three relief appearances.

De La Rosa was a starter for the Lookouts, but he had been limited to 3 2/3 and two innings in his final two starts before the call-up as part of a standard program the Dodgers use with their top pitching prospects to limit their innings in hopes of preventing injuries. De La Rosa’s last start of any length was a seven-inning effort for the Lookouts on May 10, but Mattingly said he doesn’t expect De La Rosa to be on any pitch-count limit in Philadelphia.

As for Garland, Mattingly said he has experienced pain in his shoulder during each of his past two starts, even though Garland has pitched reasonably well in those, giving up a total of four runs and 10 hits over 12 1/3 innings.

Garland isn’t with the team on its current trip. There is no timetable for his return.

“It’ll be based on how he recovers,” Mattingly said.

Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Follow Tony Jackson on Twitter: @dodgerscribe

LOS ANGELES —
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Three games, three wins and 23 runs from a Dodgers’ offense that is finally catching up to the performance of the pitching staff.

Matt Kemp homered and drove in four runs, Casey Blake added a three-run shot and Los Angeles beat the Colorado Rockies 8-2 on Tuesday night.

The Dodgers clinched consecutive series wins for just the second time this season while tying their longest winning streak at three games.

“Over the last few days we’re starting to put some runs on the board,” first-year manager Don Mattingly said. “If we can do that consistently, we’re going to be tough.”

Too often this season, the Dodgers’ offense has provided meager run support for the pitching staff. In their last three games, though, the Dodgers have scored nearly as many runs (23) as they did in their previous eight games (24).

“I don’t think this is necessarily a hot streak,” winning pitcher Ted Lilly said. “We’re pretty good. We’re going to do some damage as the season goes on.”

Lilly (4-4) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, struck out a season-high eight and walked none for the first time this season. It was the left-hander’s first win since May 10 at Pittsburgh.

“I was getting fastballs over early for strikes,” said Lilly, who was caught by backup Dioner Navarro. “Navy has an innate feel for what I’m trying to do. As a staff, we’re pretty strong. We went into the season expecting to keep our club in a lot of games. I don’t think there was much talk about our offense, but I thought there were guys who could do some damage.”

Kemp gave Los Angeles the lead for good in the first inning with a two-run homer, his 13th. He sent a 2-1 pitch from Mortensen into the mostly empty right field pavilion.

The Dodgers extended their lead to 4-1 on Kemp’s two-run single in the third, and Aaron Miles’ RBI double made it 5-1 in the fourth.

Blake homered off Matt Daley in the seventh, making it 8-2.

“That first breakout game we had, we scored a bunch. That was a big confidence booster for us,” said Blake, who came off the disabled list last Friday. “We needed something like that. There’s been a lot of frustration the last month.”

The Rockies certainly know the that feeling, having scored just six runs in their last three losses.

“We haven’t been able to put a finger on it, but it’s not from a lack of work or for a lack of effort,” Todd Helton said about the lack of hitting. “Guys are working at it, trying hard, but everything’s just not clicking for us right now. But we’ll find it. We just have to know deep down that we’re going to find a way to overcome this.”

Clayton Mortensen (1-3) gave up five runs and five hits in four innings, walked four and failed to record a strikeout for the first time this season while losing his third start in a row.

“I don’t think we feel any added pressure, to be honest. We’re just trying to go out and do our part and just try and keep us in games,” he said. “I didn’t do a very good job of that. They’re going to swing it. We’ve been swinging it lately. We just haven’t gotten the timely ones.”

Colorado’s Chris Nelson doubled in the third and scored on Mortensen’s sacrifice fly to second baseman Miles in short right field. The second run came in the seventh on Ty Wigginton’s second homer in two nights.

Notes: Dodgers RHP Vicente Padilla, on the DL with right radial nerve inflammation, didn’t allow a baserunner in two scoreless innings for Class A-Rancho Cucamonga and could be activated Friday at Cincinnati, barring a setback. … Dodgers OF Marcus Thames, on the DL with a right quad strain, played six innings in the field and went 0 for 2 with a strikeout and two walks at Triple-A Albuquerque. … The Dodgers improved to .500 at home. … It was Colorado’s sixth straight road loss against an NL West opponent. … Wigginton extended his hitting streak to eight games, with an RBI in four of his last five games.

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By Tim Dierkes [May 24, 2011 at 8:31am CST]

The Dodgers are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series.  Here’s what the team faces after the 2011 season:

Eligible For Free Agency (11)

• Starter Hiroki Kuroda, 36, is rolling along with another strong season.  I’m guessing the Dodgers will have another shot to sign him to a one-year deal after the season, as Kuroda has a full no-trade clause.
• Jonathan Broxton lost the closer job again this season, and he’s currently on the DL with an elbow injury.  At one point he seemed destined for a monster free agent contract, but instead he might want a one-year deal to rebuild value.
• Rod Barajas leads all NL catchers with seven home runs, though it doesn’t get much worse than a .260 OBP.  The Dodgers may give some thought to re-signing him on a one-year deal.
• Jamey Carroll has been quite valuable filling in for Rafael Furcal; his .374 OBP leads all MLB shortstops.  Carroll should top his last two-year deal and ought to seek a team that will play him every day.  Before then, he could be popular at the trade deadline.
• Vicente Padilla had the Dodgers’ closer role for a short period of time, but then landed on the DL with more forearm concerns.  We’ll have to see how the rest of his season goes before assessing his value.
• Lance Cormier has been terrible, and might not make it to the end of the season with the Dodgers.
• Dioner Navarro missed most of April with an oblique injury and hasn’t done anything yet.
• Marcus Thames hasn’t played much this year due to a quad injury.  Vision problems have sidelined Jay Gibbons.
• Mike MacDougal is doing his usual tightrope act, but the beleaguered Dodgers bullpen needs him right now.
• Aaron Miles is also eligible for free agency.  The Dodgers could see quite a bit of turnover next year.

Contract Options (3)

• Rafael Furcal: $12MM club option with a $1.3MM buyout.  Furcal’s latest Dodgers contract has been a frustrating one due to injuries.  I can’t picture the Dodgers exercising this, and I can envision them moving him this summer depending on what his no-trade clause allows.
• Casey Blake: $6MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout.  Blake is finishing up rehab for an elbow injury.  He was hitting well before that in a small sample.
• Jon Garland: $8MM club option with a $500K buyout; vests with 190 IP.  At his current pace, another 22 or 23 starts would not be enough for Garland to reach 190 innings.  It’d be the first time he’s failed to do so since he was a reliever a decade ago.  I don’t picture the Dodgers exercising at a $7.5MM net price.

Arbitration Eligible (7)

The Dodgers have an interesting arbitration group.  Kershaw should top Jered Weaver‘s first-time record for a starting pitcher, though David Price may beat Kershaw and in a way the record is technically and should remain the Giants’ $8MM filing for Tim Lincecum last year.  Kemp and Ethier both kept their final arbitration years open, and now it’s time to get paid.  Ethier is operating from a higher salary point, but each player should be able to exceed $12MM.  Targets for their agents may include Mark Teixeira‘s $12.5MM in ’08 or even Prince Fielder‘s $15.5MM this year. 

Loney probably should have been non-tendered or dealt last offseason; he’s highly unlikely to be tendered a contract this time.  Kuo, on the DL with anxiety disorder, is an unknown.  Troncoso and Gwynn could be cut, though they wouldn’t cost much to retain.  For my rough estimate I’ll put Kershaw at $6MM and Kemp and Ethier at $13MM each, plus Kuo at $3MM for a total of $35MM.

2012 Payroll Obligation

The Dodgers’ 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot’s, is $48MM if you include all three buyouts on the options.  Our arbitration estimate puts them at $83MM, a solid $37MM short of this year’s payroll without considering minimum salary players.  The big question, of course, is the team’s ownership situation.  If by November Bud Selig successfully removes Frank McCourt from the picture entirely and installs a new owner, the Dodgers figure to be major players in free agency.  If not, I have to think payroll would be cut.  In that case GM Ned Colletti would still have some spending money, just not for the big names.