D’backs ace latest to likely need Tommy John surgery,
Ailment has made Tommy John spring ’s big name
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ . Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin says he doesn’t know exactly when he’ll get a second opinion about his injured elbow from renowned surgeon James Andrews.
It’s no wonder — it might be easier to be a walk-in at your local emergency room these days.
Andrews, the name no pitcher wants to hear, is booked solid as teams across the major leagues hold their breath while waiting for the almost inevitable diagnosis of season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Scheduled to visit Andrews today: Jarrod Parker of the Oakland Athletics and Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy of the Atlanta Braves — all potential debilitating losses to their teams’ starting rotations, just as Corbin is to the Diamondbacks’.
Parker’s rotation-mate A.J. Griffin also has an elbow problem, but he learned Saturday he does not have structural damage and faces only three weeks of rest.
“It happens everywhere,” said Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson, whose team left Sunday for two season-opening games against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Australia, the first of which Corbin was supposed to start. “I know one in four pitchers in the major leagues has Tommy John surgery. It’s more prevalent in the game today than it ever has been, and there are a lot of people thinking about and talking about why that is.”
If Parker, Medlen and Beachy have the ligament replacement procedure, it will be the second time for each. But it’s all new to Corbin, a 24-year-old All- Star who led the Diamondbacks with 14 victories last season.
“I’ve never been hurt before,” Corbin, a left-hander, said. “I’m just trying to get through it. It’s disappointing.”
An MRI was taken on Corbin’s sore left elbow after he left a spring game against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, when he felt discomfort during the seventh inning. It was to be his last game before starting the season opener against the Dodgers this Saturday in Sydney. In fact, Gibson said, the injury came on what was to be Corbin’s final batter of the day.
Now, Wade Miley, already a part of the Diamondbacks’ planned rotation, will get the season’s first start, and Gibson and general manager Kevin Towers will sort out how to fill the open spot.
“We’ll have plenty of time to have conversations on the plane,” Gibson said.
Among the internal candidates are Randall Delgado, Josh Collmenter and the organization’s top prospect, Archie Bradley.
“I think you only have so many pitches in your arm before it’s going to get hurt.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez on the rash of major elbow injuries
Delgado, 24, has 43 major league starts for the Diamondbacks and Braves. Collmenter had 35 starts for Arizona in 2011-12.
Bradley, a 21-year-old who never has pitched above Class AA, will get one more chance to impress this week when he starts an exhibition game against the Australian national team.
Depth of starting pitching has become a requirement for teams.
“You have to be ready for these things, because they’re going to happen,” Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “The other day we were figuring we had eight possible starters, and two days later we had to go sign (free agent Ervin) Santana. And if we didn’t have (Freddy) Garcia, whom we acquired for depth, we’d be in trouble.”
The Braves also signed veteran Gavin Floyd, even though they knew he wouldn’t be ready until probably May after having Tommy John elbow surgery last June.
Oakland, planning to start the season without Parker and Griffin regardless of the diagnoses, will turn to left-hander Tommy Milone, who was in the A’s rotation the last two years, and probably Jesse Chavez, a reliever for most of his six seasons in the majors.
Parker was developed in the Arizona organization before a 2011 trade to Oakland.
“When Jarrod Parker was here, we took an overly conservative approach with him when he was a young kid,” Gibson recalled of the gradual workload increases most teams adhere to. “And he had Tommy John (surgery).”
Corbin followed a similar pattern, throwing 144 2⁄ 3, 160 1⁄ 3, 186 1⁄3 and 208 1⁄3 innings the last four years.
“I think people try to analyze what it takes to minimize these injuries,” Gibson said. “There’s no exact science.”
And there might not be any predicting or preventing them — at least not yet.
“I have two theories,” Gonzalez said. “One is that the damage may already be done by the time they sign as professionals. And I also think you only have so many pitches in your arm before it’s going to get hurt. (The Washington Nationals’ Stephen) Strasburg couldn’t have been cared for any better, and he still got hurt.”
Corbin says he had felt tightness in the arm all spring but thought it was nothing beyond normal fatigue. That changed on his last three pitches.
“I felt it a little more,” he said. “I knew something was wrong. It felt like a small little shock in there. Nothing popped.”
And he’s not second-guessing anything leading up to the injury.
“I think it’s just a freak incident,” he said. “Just kinda sucks that it happened.”