APRIL 14: Moore will undergo Tommy John surgery, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The young hurler said that he decided to have the procedure after experiencing discomfort while throwing this afternoon. "What was coming out, it's a shame to be have to be shut down right now but it just wasn't comfortable," Moore said. "Being stuck in the position I am right now, where it's not exactly comfortable but it's not exactly completely broke, it's kind of one of those things where you know it's going to get worse."
APRIL 10: Moore, the team, and the doctors they've consulted are still assessing the injury and the options, according to the updated report from Topkin. "What [executive VP Andrew Friedman] wanted to do was discuss it in more depth [today] based on the results as we get them," Maddon said. "We need to get all the facts and see how we want to proceed with this, see if surgery is necessary, if it's not necessary, we're still waiting to find out."
A contrast-aided MRI conducted yesterday is expected to help provide answers. One question, according to Topkin, is whether all or part of the damage was pre-existing, which will require comparison to past scans. "I don't think it's fully torn from what I understand," said Maddon, "but I don't know that. The test with the dye would probably be more conclusive."
APRIL 9: Rays manager Joe Maddon said that it is "not a slam dunk surgery right now" after Moore's tests and consultations today, tweets Topkin. Discussions about how to proceed will continue tomorrow.
APRIL 8: The injury that drove Rays starter Matt Moore from his start yesterday involves his UCL, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Moore, 24, will see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, as was reported earlier today.
UCL tears are commonly associated with the Tommy John procedure, of course, as that is the surgical option in the event of a tear. As Passan notes, pitchers can occastionally attempt to rehab and pitch through a tear if it is minor enough, though in that situation any delay would push back the timetable in the event that surgery is ultimately necessary.
The club had sounded optimistic earlier this morning, but the outlook apparently took a downturn as the day went along, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted earlier this evening. Moore, one of the most promising young arms in the game, is in the midst of a five-year, $14MM extension that also includes three option years covering the 2017-19 seasons. Though Tampa has options to fill in for him in the near term — including Nate Karns and Erik Bedard — the team is already dealing with the loss of Jeremy Hellickson for the early part of the season and the suspension of prospect Alex Colome.
Exactly.
Could be! :)
Was good they took a week to mull it over. Looked like the inevitable though, and long term he won’t lose any money over it. Has club options through 2019, and no way the Rays would drop them over this, they are too good priced.
It’s not that simple, though. Mariano Rivera threw nothing but cutters and Roy Halladay threw them extensively, but neither dealt with elbow injuries. I’m more inclined to believe that overwork at a young age and going all out are more of a factor, especially with the advanced strength training programs these guys have nowadays. The muscles are capable of throwing the ball harder but the body just can’t take it.
Back in the day it was survival of the fittest. There was no innings limits or pitch counts for guys coming up. If they blew out their elbow they were effectively done or maybe they tried the knuckleball. For most it happened early in their career but some were more notable (see Ernie Broglio). Not so sure the pitches had that much effect. Warren Spahn threw a screwball (essentially a reverse slider), and that’s not exactly easy on the elbow. You don’t see too many guys throwing screwballs these days.
Soriano has no power? mmmm
Dizzy Dean’s career was essentially done at age 27 when he got hit in the toe by a line drive in the All Star game. He changed his motion to avoid landing hard on the sore toe, and hurt his arm. He pitched through it with occasional success for a couple more years, but that was it for ol Diz. The toe injury was a convenient explanation who knows? He may have hurt his arm anyway.
He hardly ever turns anybody down for surgery. I’m beginning to think this whole TJ surgery is a business on its own
The DL rotation is better than AL and NL combined! haha
I wonder if this means that the Rays will keep David Price and attempt to sign him to a long term deal? I highly doubt they can tread water with the likes of Bedard and Ramos in the rotation for very long…
God how i hate the Cards, but what I would do to have any of them on the Cubbies. ESPECIALLY Wacha. You guys are set (as always) for a long time.