The Giants announced that right-hander Rico Garcia will undergo Tommy John surgery this Saturday, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to pass along. The 27-year-old was in camp as a non-roster invitee.
This will obviously sideline Garcia for all of 2021 and quite likely into the following season as well. He had been looking to earn his way back into the San Francisco bullpen. Garcia pitched in twelve games for the Giants last season, but they non-tendered him at year’s end. Altogether, he’s pitched 16 MLB innings with the Rockies and Giants, allowing thirteen runs with nine strikeouts and walks apiece.
While he has struggled in his brief time in the majors and at Triple-A, Garcia has pitched extremely well up through the Double-A level. Unfortunately, he won’t get another opportunity to carry that success over to the big leagues until next year.
rough. thought this guy was a neat prospect with COL.
Why are there so many SFG players that are getting TJ? I don’t think there are as many players needing TJ for other teams as there are for SF
As an Angels fan, I feel your pain.
A rule 5, a NRI, and Tyler Beede. I think they’ll be fine.
I think it’s the water. Didn’t you watch the Niners drop like flies last year?
PutPeteRoseInTheHall:
You know you shouldn’t post crap like that based on some vague perception of yours. Why not do some research to see if that perception is correct? I guess it’s just easier to state falsehoods.
Giants players have had 24 TJ surgeries since 2017, 22 of them pitchers. That is among the most, but not significant. The Rangers have also had 24 TJ surgeries. The Brewers 23. The Padres 22. The Reds 20.
Follow the link, and you’ll see all teams have had a significant number of guys getting TJS. Some teams have had more recently, but it’s just random increases and decreases. For instance, the Braves have had 73 TJ surgeries overall, while only 8 since 2017. And the Dodgers have had 85 overall and only 15 since 2017. Giants have had 71 overall.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gQujXQQGOVNaiuwSN6…
No more than The Ángels to many Tj
Had a few questions about TJ surgery running through my head… Googled for info, and was surprised to find that the average cost of the surgery is $15K. For some reason, I thought it was a LOT higher.
Also, as of 2012, one in seven MLB pitchers had TJ surgery at some point in their career. I’d guess the percentage is higher now. Longtime Dodgers physician Dr. Frank Jobe performed the first procedure (on Tommy John, of course) in 1974. His estimate of the surgery’s success (defined as John being able to pitch again) was 1 in 100. Current success rate sits at about 90%.
I’m an info nerd. Apologies.
Thanks
For sharing- good info
You’re welcome. Actually pretty interesting to read about.
If you enjoy reading about TJS, it is a fascinating subject, I suggest reading the book “The Arm” by Jeff Passen. It delves into the history and possible causes of the injury, although it may be a tad bit out of date already haha.
Hey, thanks for the recommendation! I’ll grab a copy! Truly appreciate this.
And yeah, after reading for a bit on the ‘net, the info/knowledge/available data changes at a pretty rapid rate.
What did guys do before Tommy John? Did they just blow out their elbow, and never pitch again? Or did they try to meep pitching and just weren’t any good any more?
Look at Tiant three high heat then blew his arm and threw junk for years after
All I can find is that prior to TJ surgery, UCL injuries were considered to be “career ending.”
@dingus, pre TJ surgery, the pitchers who blew out their UCLs became eephus specialists!
What did they do before Tommy John?
look at the records of a lot of old time pitchers and you’ll see that for many – they were doing great and then their careers just ended! I guess they pitched hard until their arms just literally couldn’t work anymore.
but you don’t have to go too far back – just to Sandy Koufax