PEORIA, Ariz. — Ryan Feierabend’s left elbow had been bothering him, so he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam to learn why.
“The first thing that popped into my head was Tommy John surgery,” he said. “That’s something you never want to hear.”
That was last year, when Feierabend suffered a strained tendon while pitching at Class AAA Tacoma. He rehabbed and pitched well the rest of the season, including eight starts with the Seattle Mariners.
Wednesday, Feierabend was dealing with those words again — Tommy John surgery — and it seems there won’t be any escape from it this time.
An MRI early this week showed Feierabend has a torn ligament in the elbow and he’ll be examined Tuesday by orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles.
“I’m going there pretty much with the intention of having Tommy John surgery,” he said. “It’s something I thought I’d never have to hear.”
The surgery involves replacing the ligament in the elbow and is named after the first major-league pitcher to undergo the procedure.
Feierabend said he felt a small pop earlier this month while throwing in the bullpen.
“During the bullpen I felt a slight pop in the elbow,” he said. “It wasn’t anything big like the horror stories I’ve heard where it sounds like a shotgun. I did a lot of strengthening and tried to pitch through it, but it got to the point where fatigue had set in and something didn’t feel right. I figured I’d better get an MRI and have it looked at.”
The MRI confirmed the worst, and if Yocum agrees when he sees Feierabend on Tuesday, he’ll operate on the 23-year-old on Wednesday. Feierabend said the injury is not related to the arm problems he had last year.
At this point, Feierabend is trying to find the positive in what seems certain to be a season-ending injury.
“You don’t look forward to having any type of surgery. But Tommy John is one of those surgeries that I’ve heard has one of the best recovery rates for a pitcher. I’ve heard stories of guys coming back even stronger than they were before because of all the hard work they put in.
“If that’s what it comes down to, I’ll come back even stronger and maybe even hit 92, 93 (mph) next year. Who knows? If it happens, come down here, work my butt off, get stronger and get ready to go. I can’t say I’m looking forward to getting it done, but I want to put it behind me and get ready for next year.”
Feierabend, a starter throughout his minor league career, had hoped to compete for a role in the Mariners’ bullpen.
“My outlook was to be in the pen as the long guy or possibly as the lefty setup guy,” he said. “I hadn’t done lefty setup before, but I did have some innings coming in with guys on base and I seemed to do pretty well. That was my hope this year, to open some eyes coming out of the bullpen.”
It looks like that will have to wait a year.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog from spring training at www.heraldnet.com
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