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Tommy John surgery continues to take victims all around baseball, and not just on the mound. Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez underwent the procedure on his right elbow on Thursday after MRIs revealed a torn ulnar ulnar collateral ligament. As a catcher whose primary duties behind the plate includes throwing out runners on the base paths, surgery appeared to best route to take with the injury. That, however, isn’t the choice everyone facing ligament damage makes.
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka decided against Tommy John surgery last summer, opting to go through rehab and rest in attempt to heal the damage instead. Tanaka, by all accounts, doesn’t look like the same pitcher this spring, and now Hall of Famer pitcher Pedro Martinez told Sirius/XM that he doesn’t expect Tanaka to stay healthy this year. In his last spring training start on Tuesday, Tanaka’s fastball sat in the 87-91 mph range and, according to reports, the hurler looked tentative overall. While Tanaka himself said he was throwing more sinkers to hold back, the admission that he didn’t have full confidence in his fastball is frightening. Tanaka threw four-seamers more often than any other pitcher, using it to contrast off his splitter. Another pitcher similarly tried to rest off elbow inflammation before going under the knife.
Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish experienced elbow inflammation at the end of last season, leading to the organization shutting down the righty. Instead of deciding to undergo surgery, Darvish hoped that rest would heal the wound. In his first start of the spring, Darvish felt elbow inflammation and made the decision to undergo Tommy John surgery. Ultimately, Darvish’s decision to rest backfired and will prevent him from pitching in 2015. If Tanaka continues to struggle, his decision to rehab may backfire as well.
- The story that doesn’t seem to have an end: with the MLBPA publicly voicing their displeasure with the Cubs’ handling of the Kris Bryant situation, potential litigation could be taken.
- Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy could be one of the most underpaid players in all of baseball. The combination of Lucroy’s prowess at the plate, presence behind it, and $3 million salary in 2015 make it an argument hard to disagree with.
- Nothing says a new season like a whole lot of predictions.
- Mike Trout is the undisputed, reigning and defending best position player in all of baseball, but he’s still looking to get better: the 2014 AL MVP is looking to cut down his strikeouts this season.
- Reds reliever Burke Badenhop shared his thoughts on the visiting bullpens all around baseball. Badenhop is among the most thoughtful players in baseball, as he showed off with his insight.
- Let’s review Barry Bonds’ career, shall we?
- The Juan Lagares contract extension showed the growing monetary value of defense-first players in today’s game. Defense is sexy, folks.
- There are some projections for the league leaders in baseball for this upcoming season.
- The 2015 MLB Draft class is the weakest in years. Duke pitcher Mike Matuella and high school lefty Brady Aiken’s Tommy John surgery makes you imagine what could have been. Some team could still snag them early in this summer’s draft, of course.
- The Red Sox’ recent player acquisition strategy has been to collect as many good hitters as possible, regardless of position. The demotions of Rusney Castillo and Jackie Bradley are indicative of just that.
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