Chris Carpenter will undergo season ending surgery after recurrences of numbness and weakness made it evident that the right-hander would be unable to pitch through thoracic outlet syndrome this year.

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. That leaves the Cardinals confident that Carpenter, who is in the first season of a two-year, $21 million contract, will be at full strength at the start of Spring Training in 2013.

Carpenter said on Tuesday that he has every intention of pitching next season.

"I want to pitch again, and this is the way for me to pitch again," Carpenter said. "We tried since Spring Training to get this going, and every time I tried to come back, unfortunately, it just doesn't allow me to do that."

Carpenter was first shut down with what was described as a nerve-related issue in March, when he began feeling weakness and numbness in his arm, shoulder and face following his throwing sessions. He sat out for nearly three months before resuming a throwing program in mid-June.

While Carpenter maintained that in recent days that his strength was where it needed to be, it became clear over the past week that there were still underlying problems. He skipped a schedule live batting practice session on June 25 and, after returning to the mound on Friday, didn't bounce back properly over the weekend.