In what has come as a huge blow for MLB Championship aspirants, the New York Yankees, Luis Severino is bang grounded by surgery
In short, the 26-year-old, two-time All Star pitcher’s season is over even before it has started.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman announced on Tuesday that Severino’s been diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. He will need ‘Tommy John’ surgery to repair it and that could sideline him for a full season.
The Dominican Republic-born Severino was limited to just three regular-season starts in 2019 due to his injury problems. Finally he experienced extreme discomfort during the American League Championship Series (ALCS) clash with the Houston Astros last term.
“Sevy has now acknowledged and agreed the surgery is necessary,” Cashman said during the Yankees’ 4-1 preseason win over the Blue Jays. “His plan is to have it done as soon as possible. Right now he’s obviously thinking about doctors and who to have it done by.
“My gut feel is, it’s something that dates back to when he started feeling something [during the ALCS],” Cashman added. “The prior MRIs had no problem, and the point of injury was not around the ligament.
Torn ligament only discovered Tuesday
“Our athletic trainers, our physical therapists and the orthopaedics all examined him both in Tampa and New York. They could not find anything that showed the ligament issue in any shape or form, at least not until Tuesday.
Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, often called Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient’s body, or with one from a deceased donor.
The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is the major stabilizer of the elbow. UCL injuries are normally the result of overuse of the elbow, most often caused by the repetitive motion of throwing. The surgical procedure is named after the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John, the first man to undergo it.
Full recovery to competitive standards usually takes from between 9 and 12 months. But when it comes to putting players back into baseball at the top of their game, TJS has success rate of between 80 and 90%.
“My immediate reaction is just kind of feeling for him, wanting to check in with him and seeing how he’s doing,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously, we’re losing a great pitcher, but we’ll manage it. We’ll figure it out and just try and support Sevy.”
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