PEORIA, Ariz. -- It took a while, but Mariners left-hander Ryan Feierabend finally found something positive about the season-ending surgery he had on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

He can be with his wife when the couple becomes parents for the first time in late June, when their son is born.

"I would get to spend the whole summer at home and get to know my son during the first few months of his life and not be gone every other week," he said.

Feierabend and his wife, Sarah, live about a 15-minute drive from the Peoria Sports Complex, and he has accepted the reality of staying home this summer, recovering from Tommy John ligament replacement surgery.

An examination in Los Angeles on Tuesday by noted orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum determined the course of action that was needed.

It's scary," Feierabend said. "I never imagined I would end [up] having any kind of major surgery because I've never had something like that before. But it is a relief to get it done and over with so I can start working my tail off toward next year."

A third-round Draft choice in 2003, Feierabend advanced through the Mariners' farm system quickly, reaching the big leagues for the first time in 2006, skipping Triple-A Tacoma. He posted a 0-1 record and 3.71 ERA in four appearances, including two starts.

He started the '07 season at Triple-A Tacoma, and rode the shuttle between Tacoma and Seattle all year, being promoted and demoted four times, ending with a 1-6 record and 8.03 ERA in 13 games.

The 2008 season was another up-and-down year. Feierabend added eight appearances to his Major League resume, but he battled elbow discomfort for much of the season, first at Tacoma and then at Seattle.

"I injured the flexor tendon in my elbow at Triple-A," he said. "But it's a totally different injury that I have now. I ended up coming back from that injury, after being on the disabled list for two months, and had some stiffness."

But he pitched through it and was promoted to the Mariners in August.

"I was fine when I got called up," he recalled. "But I started getting stiff again and it kept getting worse and worse, until it finally got to the point where it didn't feel right and I asked if I could get a MRI."

He said the exam occurred on the Friday before the Mariners' regular-season finale at Safeco Field.

"I thought it was just scar tissue from the previous injury, maybe a bone spur," he said. "But the MRI showed a small tear in the ligament."

Feierabend said he decided against having offseason surgery, "because I would have missed the entire [2009] season. There had been guys that had partial tears and pitched right through them without having surgery, and I thought I could do the same thing."

So he returned to Peoria for the winter and went on a rehab program.

"I was willing to grit my teeth, bear it and try to get as strong as I could," he said. "Everything was going good. I was down here with [trainer] Rob Nodine, throwing 'pens and stuff, and my arm felt pretty good. But one day I felt a 'pop'. Normally, when you feel, or hear, a pop, it's not a good sign. I just couldn't do it anymore."

He had another MRI, which disclosed a larger ligament tear, and his Spring Training came to a screeching halt.

The organization announced late last week that Feirabend would be further examined and he fears the worst while hoping for the best.

"It would be good for them to go in and find that the ligament is healthy, it is just scar tissue, and I would be back in six weeks," he said. "That would be unbelievable. But the way the doctors and [head athletic trainer Rick Griffin] are talking, it is more than likely that I will need Tommy John."

And if that's the case, so be it.

"I'm young enough to come back," he said.

It usually takes about a year to recover from Tommy John surgery.

By the time Feierabend throws another pitch in a game situation, his son just might be walking and saying "da-da".

That would be a good consolation prize.