WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP)- Bruce Sutter admitted Tuesday that his chances of ever pitching again are remote because of a severely torn rotator cuff. But the former king of the bullpen still is not ready to announce his retirement.

Sutter, who last year became only the third relief pitcher in baseball history to record 300 saves, was told Monday by Braves’ physicians that the rotator cuff in his right shoulder was torn badly.

“I wouldn’t anticipate that he would play any more baseball,” said team physician Dr. Robert Wells after being shown results of the examination.

“There’s probably a 99.9 percent chance I won’t be able to pitch again,” Sutter told a hastily called news conference at the Braves’ training camp. He returned to West Palm Beach Tuesday morning from Atlanta, where he was examined Sunday by another Braves physician, Dr. Joe Chandler.

Sutter said he would rest his arm for three to four months and then decide whether to undergo surgery on the shoulder, which had been operated on three times previously.

“Dr. Chandler found a rotator cuff tear—a pretty good sized tear—and he thinks Bruce should do nothing for three to four months,” said General Manager Bobby Cox. “We’ll look at it then and see if it needs to be cut on and go from there. We don’t expect Bruce to pitch this year.”

“Bruce is not going to retire,” Cox said. “We’re not going to release him. We’ll put him on the 21-day disabled list, then probably move him to the 60-day DL later on.”

Sutter, who signed a $10.6 million, six-year contract with the Braves in December 1984, still has two years remaining at $1.5 million per season.

“I don’t feel too good right now,” said Sutter, 36, who met with Cox and team president Stan Kasten for about 15 minutes before answering questions from the media.