Rays left-hander Matt Moore has decided to have Tommy John surgery after the club discovered a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Rays Matt Moore to have Tommy John surgery
Tampa Bay’s left-hander will undergo Tommy John surgery after the Rays found a partial tear in his UCL last week. Moore will miss the rest of the season.
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Moore left his April 7 start against the Kansas City Royals with elbow discomfort and underwent tests that revealed the tear in his UCL. The 24-year-old had been weighing a decision to either have the surgery or try to rest and rehab the injury over the past week.
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Now, according to Topkin, Moore will have the surgery, effectively ending his season and leaving the Rays without three of their top five starting pitchers for the time being.
“What was coming out, it’s a shame to have to be shut down right now but it just wasn’t comfortable,” Moore told Topkin. “Being stuck in the position I am right now, where it’s not exactly comfortable but it’s not completely broke, it’s kind of one of those things where you know it’s going to get worse.”
A former top prospect for the Rays, Moore was entering his third big league season. The left-hander owns a career 3.53 ERA in 347 innings and had an up-and-down campaign for Tampa Bay in 2013 that saw him post a 3.29 ERA. Moore’s control has been sporadic during his young career, and he walked 76 batters in 150.1 innings last season, while striking out just 1.88 as many batters as he walked.
Moore's injury now leaves the Rays quite thin in starting pitching depth. Tampa Bay just placed Alex Cobb on the 15-day DL with an oblique strain and they are also without Jeremy Hellickson, who began the season on the DL.
Erik Bedard and Cesar Ramos are now expected to fill out the back of the club's rotation.
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