BJ Upton has surgery, will be ready for Spring Training

Tampa Bay Rays' B.J. Upton has surgery to repair labrum

As expected, Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

The surgery was deemed successful, and Upton is expected to be "100 percent" sometime during spring training, according to Rick Vaughn, Rays vice president of communications. Executive VP Andrew Friedman said it's too early to give a timetable on Upton's return, but he said Upton should be in position to be in the Opening Day lineup.

The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama.

Upton is coming off a stellar postseason, in which he hit seven home runs and had 16 RBI. Upton had hit just nine homers in the regular season, but reluctantly revealed late in the year that he was playing with the labrum injury.

Upton made some mechanical adjustments and had said he was feeling better during the postseason, but acknowledged he'd likely need surgery to fix the problem.

Friedman said that the Rays are still going through tests and scans to see whether veteran RHP Troy Percival will indeed need surgeries on his back and knee, which the 39-year-old thought he might require in the offseason.

Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer