Photo Courtesy: Kent Gilley
By Lew Patton
The Rangers received devastating news over the weekend when ace right-hander Yu Darvish was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. It appears that season-ending Tommy John surgery could be in his future, but assistant general manager Thad Levine told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com that they will wait to announce a plan on Wednesday.
Darvish is scheduled to fly to New York and will get a second opinion on his elbow from Dr. David Altcheck. He’ll then discuss the situation with the Rangers before a decision is made.
Timing is critical here. If Darvish tries to rehab the injury and ends up having Tommy John surgery anyway, he would be at risk for not only missing all of 2015, but also all of 2016. That’s a pretty big risk with no guarantee of a payoff. It would be a surprise if he doesn’t just go ahead and have the surgery now.
