The Braves have already experienced a critical blow to their rotation with the likelihood that Kris Medlen will have to undergo Tommy John surgery for a second time. Now, the biceps tightness that right-hander Brandon Beachy felt in his most recent Spring Training outing may lead to a worst-case scenario outcome as well; MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports that Beachy could also be in line for his second Tommy John surgery. According to Bowman, Beachy was apparently told that the injury was confined to his biceps earlier in the week, which is why he conveyed such confidence to the media on Monday when asked about his ailing arm (Twitter links). Bowman quotes him as saying, "Now it looks like it might be something else."
Bowman tweets that both Medlen and Beachy will meet with Dr. James Andrews on Monday, with Medlen likely receiving a final opinion after having already met with Andrews earlier in the week. The loss of both Medlen and Beachy would be crushing to the Braves, although it would be somewhat offset by the team's recent one-year signing of Ervin Santana. Still, even with Santana in the mix, the club would go from a projected rotation of Medlen, Beachy, Julio Teheran, Mike Minor and Alex Wood/Gavin Floyd to Teheran, Minor, Santana, Wood and a combination of Floyd, Freddy Garcia and David Hale. And of course, Minor is expected to miss the first two weeks of the season as well.
Beachy first underwent Tommy John surgery midway through a breakout 2012 campaign in which he posted an even 2.00 ERA over his first 81 innings. He rehabbed from the surgery and made a respectable return effort in 2013, posting a 4.50 ERA over 30 innings. Medlen's previous Tommy John surgery was performed back in August of 2010.
