White Sox prospect Dane Dunning has been shut down after experiencing renewed discomfort while working through a throwing program, general manager Rick Hahn revealed to reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin). As if that wasn’t ominous enough, Dunning is slated to meet with Dr. James Andrews this week, and Hahn was candid about the ominous nature of his injury. “Everything is on the table including a potential Tommy John surgery,” the GM said.
The 24-year-old Dunning was the third piece acquired in the trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Nationals, joining fellow righties Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito. He’s elevated his prospect status since the time of that deal, currently checking in at No. 80 on MLB.com’s ranking of the game’s Top 100 prospects. Baseball Prospectus ranked him 76th this winter, while he currently checks in just outside the Top 100 (No. 121) on Fangraphs’ rankings.
Last year, Dunning opened the season at Class-A Advanced and moved up to Double-A after four starts — excelling at both levels. His 2018 season was cut short by an elbow sprain, but when he was healthy enough to take the mound, he worked to a terrific 2.71 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 50 percent. In 86 1/3 innings of work, Dunning yielded just two home runs.
Should Dunning require Tommy John surgery, he’d be the second of the White Sox’ top-rated arms to sit out the 2019 campaign while rehabbing a UCL replacement. Righty Michael Kopech underwent the same operation late in the 2018 campaign and won’t be back on the mound for the organization until the 2020 season. Sox fans have been dreaming of a rotation headlined by Kopech, Dunning and fellow highly touted right-hander Dylan Cease, but that the timeline to that potential reality continues to be pushed back by injury troubles.
If you laid out all the injured White Sox prospects it would look like the field hospital scene in ‘Gone with the Wind’.
well we can thank the good LORD that the white Sox traded chris sale before they ruined his career like there doing with there prospects
*they’re and *their
Thank you for fighting the good fight. That stuff kills me.
Myself, I finally gave up the fight. The crowds were merciless.
Funny. Everyone was crying about Sale breaking down from day 1, yet the Sox managed to average 200+ innings from him for 5 straight years. It’s almost like they knew what they were doing.
This is just an unlucky stretch that will pass. At least he isn’t burning service time like Kopech.
Not Great, Bob!
We can’t have nice things.
Are we ready to label the White Sox as the “Angels East”?
“Angels Central” or “Mets Central”
The Mets are “Angels East.”
The angels have a superstar in trout. The Mets have several star pitchers. White Sox are a pile of ….
You mean prospects get injured or under-perform??????
Don’t tell fans of those teams that have lined their pockets with profits while endlessly “playing for the future”……
Duhhhhhh tanking good. Duhhhhh I want my team to lose. Lol
They knew this was headed to TJS last year. They should have treated this aggressively then, so he would absolutely be ready by next season. This entire offseason has been a model of mismanagement.
Just get the surgery and get it over with. This is EXACTLY what I said was going to happen when they shut him down last year. So much time already wasted.
^2nd!
Curse of Eloy
Well let’s see if it actually is Tommy John needed.
It is. Shutting him down like this, again, is just delaying the inevitable. He could already be 6+ months into recovery if they didn’t play this game last year.
Well, it’s is
This reminds me of what Giants tried to do with Cueto. I know comparing a vet to a prospect is iffy. Just saying, why delay the inevitable? Sounds like he is heading for TJ but you guys wanna take the scenic route. Get out of the traffic filled cash lane during rush hour and got yourself a fastrak
Is it just me or has every 1st round pitcher out of the University of Florida the past 4-5 years have some sort of arm trouble?
Dunning and Kopech fall to injury. and Alec Hansen can’t throw strikes. Rough year to be a Sox fan.
Dude looks like the guy doing my taxes.
Boy, we can’t even make it out of ST without a rash of injuries to our prospects. I’m scared to see who we lose next.