Angels’ Escobar has torn shoulder

TEMPE, Ariz. – Pitcher Kelvim Escobar, an 18-game winner last season, revealed this morning that he has a tear in his shoulder, an injury that could require season-ending surgery and, possibly, end his career.

“I’m concerned, I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to pitch again,” said Escobar, who, just a week into his throwing program, was shut down Sunday because of shoulder pain.

“I’m still young. I’ll be 32 in two weeks, but retirement is getting into my head, because it’s hard to rehab. I want to be out there playing, and I’ve done everything I can do to be healthy.”

Escobar spent two months rehabilitating and strengthening the shoulder, and on March 15, he began playing catch, at 45 feet. But after his third throwing session, the discomfort returned.

The right-hander will spend another two weeks trying to strengthen the shoulder, but if he does not improve significantly, he will probably visit a shoulder specialist in New York and consider arthroscopic surgery.

“They would look at it and fix whatever I have,” Escobar said of a possible medical procedure. “But that would take 10 months to recover from.”

Escobar, who is in the second year of a three-year, $28.5-million contract, said he was “expecting to feel a lot better” when he started throwing because he had made so much progress in his strengthening program.

“I was able to do a lot of the exercises I couldn’t do before,” Escobar said, “and I didn’t feel pain.”

The fact that the pain returned after only three throwing sessions was cause for great concern for Escobar.

“I don’t know if I need to be more patient and do more exercises, or what,” Escobar said. “If that doesn’t work, what’s next, keep doing exercises the whole year? They told me I had a pretty beat-up shoulder because I’ve pitched for such a long time.”

Several pitchers, including Mark Mulder and Bartolo Colon, have struggled to come back from similar shoulder injuries.

“This could be the end of my career,” Escobar said. “They’re not sure if I’d be able to come back after surgery.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com