Rafael Furcal likely out for season with bum elbow, would need Tommy John surgery

MRI results on the right elbow of St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal showed a "significant" tear in the ulnar collateral ligament, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. Even a Grade I tear would need six weeks to recover, but Tommy John ligament elbow ligament replacement surgery would require 6-8 months of rehab time.

Furcal says he heard or felt a pop in his elbow making a throw Thursday. Cards manager Mike Matheny said Furcal will receive another medical examination before a course of action is taken:

The Cards, who lead the second NL wild card spot, put Furcal on the 15-day DL and inserted Pete Kozma into the starting lineup.

A starting player on the World Series team of 2011 and an All-Star in July, Furcal hit .264/.325/.346 with five home runs and 12 steals in 121 games — only the second time since 2007 he has been healthy enough play in at least that many games. St. Louis trails Cincinnati by 9 1/2 games in the NL Central after falling to Washington on Friday night. The Cards remain in the thick of the wild card hunt.

Love baseball? Even like it a little?
Follow @AnswerDave, @bigleaguestew, @KevinKaduk on Twitter,
along with the BLS Facebook page!

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Video: Should NASCAR star Tony Stewart have been punished?
• Dan Wetzel: Boise St. coach Chris Peterson has a hard time dealing with losses
• Michael Silver: Eagles boss Jeffrey Lurie gives Andy Reid justifiable ultimatum
• Y! News: 'Eastwooding' makes the rounds on the Web