Bronson Arroyo Says Sunday Might Have Been 'Last Time' He Pitches

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who made a comeback at age 40 after not making an MLB appearance in either the 2015 or 2016 seasons due to injury, acknowledged his career may be over following Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"You have to put up enough quality starts for a ballclub to want to keep you around, you know?" Arroyo said, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "That could have been the last time I was on the field, yeah. It's just the way it is."

Arroyo lasted just three innings, giving up seven hits and five earned runs in the 8-7 loss. He is 3-6 with a 7.35 ERA and 1.59 WHIP through his first 14 starts.

Sunday was the first time Arroyo acknowledged shoulder issues have been preventing him from performing as well as he hoped. The former All-Star said he has been getting cortisone injections in his shoulder to enable him to pitch.

"I've been dealing with the same two arm issues for a while," Arroyo said. "The elbow—Tommy John is like a chain out on a bicycle. It doesn't matter how bad the chain is, if the rest of the bike is OK, you change out the chain and you continue to move forward.

"But a shoulder is more like your favorite shirt you've been wearing for the last 15 years and it's been washed too many times. So it gets brittle, right? You have some tears in there and there's really not a whole lot you can do about it. We've been doing the best we can with it by masking it with cortisone the entire season, including spring training. Right now, it's not going to work anymore. I don't know if we have any more options. We'll see."

Arroyo said he plans to discuss his future with manager Bryan Price later Sunday. Homer Bailey is slated to come off the disabled list soon and could take Arroyo's next turn in the rotation.

If this is actually the end for Arroyo, he'll finish with a 148-137 career record and 4.28 ERA.