Padres righty Colin Rea underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Rea had been attempting to avoid the surgery with a platelet-rich plasma treatment and rehab, but the decision was made to go ahead after he felt discomfort after a throwing session.
There had increasingly been hope that Rea would be able to return for the start of 2017, but the best case now is for him to make it back for the 2018 campaign. Of course, that would have been the expectation had he gone under the knife earlier, though perhaps now there’s a bit less wiggle room in his forthcoming rehab. Initial reports were that he was destined for a replacement of his ulnar collateral ligament in the middle of the season, but that was re-considered — influenced, perhaps, by the progress shown by Angels righty Garrett Richards in a non-surgical approach.
The 26-year-old’s situation was rather more complicated than that, of course. As has been discussed at length, Rea was sent by the Padres to the Marlins at the trade deadline in a multi-player pact. But he exited his first outing in Miami with elbow issues, teeing off a scandal of sorts that led to him being shipped back to the Padres. In related proceedings arising out of San Diego’s medical practices, club GM A.J. Preller ultimately served a thirty-game suspension for reporting issues that the organization has pledged to remedy.
Without Rea, the Padres’ rotation needs are more evident than ever. San Diego already seemed a likely landing spot for an arm or two. Without expectations of contention, expectations are that the club may look into some riskier, higher-upside assets on this winter’s player acquisition market.
Rea is set to reach arbitration eligibility before the 2019 season, so he’ll have a chance to post a platform year before hitting the arb cycle. Certainly, his earning opportunity will be limited by the inability to rack up innings in the second half of 2016 and all of 2017. The Padres will hope that he can return to health and improve upon the 4.69 ERA he posted over his first 134 1/3 major league frames.
I want others opinion on this but is it just me or is trying to rehabilitate a torn ucl without surgery at this point and coming back 100 percent just not being honest with yourself? Some people have done it but over all it usually fails and they end up missing more time then they need to.
I feel like players are better off just getting the surgery right away. If they try to wait for it to heal, and it doesn’t resulting in the surgery doesn’t that mean more time not pitching.
Tanaka is the only guy I can think of that seems to have successfully rehabbed it. Other than that it seems like it’s just a waste of a few months.
Did Tanak suffer a tear/need a replacement though? I know he had a UCL issue but Tommy John’s have usually been a result of a tear/replacement.
Tanaka had a partial tear, he did not completely tear his UCL
You also had Wainwright fight through a not-insignificant partial tear for 4-5 years before he needed one. I believe Gallardo also had a similar situation but don’t quote me on it
Ervin Santana has been pitching with a partial tear in his elbow ligament for years now.
I get both sides here. But it is frustrating when a team and player opt to rehab only to need the surgery eventually anyway, wasting six months of time.
Garrett Richards is expected to make it back for 2017 following stem cell therapy.
Well, it’s still surgery and the rehabilitation from it is grueling and painful. Players who have had TJS basically describe it as having to re-learn how to use your arm completely. Most of us don’t undergo surgery as an easy option, right? These are still human beings. Nobody wants to get cut open.
It’s the same thing when guys try to rehab only a rotator cuff tear. We all know returns from rotator cuff surgery doesn’t have success rate as TJ. But damn.. At some point you have to just deal with it the best was possible.
If we lose Ross too, then we are have just Perdomo, Clemens, Cosart, and Friedrich. That’s pretty bad. Worst in MLB.
Sign Jason Hammel to be your ace lol
Probably Derek Holland. More Padres-like instead of a $12 million per year Hammel.
Yeah I would imagine they’re going to sign a veteran free agent sometime this offseason. It’s too bad Colon is already off the market.
The amount of un-sexy in that rotation is laughable. So to continue laughing, bring back Peavy
If Jake is willing to take a very small deal, why not?
Wow. Yeah, Ross is almost certainly not coming back. Sad to think Padres might be in the market for Cashner, just to eat some innings. Maybe Peavy too but Peavy doesn’t even eat innings anymore. It’s sad to think James Shields might be the best starter if he was still around. This team is going to be awful in 2017.
Not surprising. It was leaning this way when they put a Dec 1st deadline on a decision.
Poor Colin. At least he’ll be back in 2018, which was the original timetable anyway.
Yeah but putting off the surgery increases the actual rehab timeline. Tommy Johns usually take at least a year and I think most are put in the 12-16 month range for initial recovery and re-strengthening of the arm. If he got the surgery when he first had the issue, he would probably be a good bet to get a couple of starts in Spring Training and maybe even start the regular season. Now, he probably misses Spring Training (barring a speedy recovery) and will probably have to go to extended Spring Training or make a couple of minor league starts first before playing in the majors again.
I’d love to see Peavy back in a Padre uniform, whatever that may look like next season. Brown?
I think they’re supposed to be getting rid of the yellow next year. But I could be wrong. They’ve changed their uniform so many times, it’s hard to know what to expect from them anymore.
I’m a brown and yellow guy for sure. Never understood the generic pinstripes.