St. Louis Cardinals' ace right-hander Chris Carpenter will have season-ending surgery to repair nerve damage in his right shoulder, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.

Surgery is scheduled for July 19 and will be performed by Dr. Gregory Pearl in Dallas. According to Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, the usual recovery time for such a procedure is 3-6 months.

Carpenter has been sidelined since spring training with thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition that involves compressed nerves between the neck and shoulder. While Carpenter originally hoped to fight through the injury without a procedure as he did when symptoms flared up in 2008, several recurrences of numbness and weakness made surgery the best option.

"I think everybody in there is disappointed that we’ll lose the year," Carpenter said. "I think they’re disappointed, including myself, that I have to do this again. But this is also the first time that there are some answers and we can get this taken care of. Hopefully I can get back out there and get better than I have been in the past."

The Cardinals expect Carpenter to return for spring training 2013, when he will be in the second year of a two-year, $21 million contract.

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Can the Cardinals still contend without Carpenter in the rotation?

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