Thaindian News

Aug 27 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Stephen Strasburg, who is the pitcher for the Washington Nationals, will most likely be out of commission until at least 2012 after acquiring the largest signing package in baseball, since he had an Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injury which may cause him to need a procedure known as “Tommy John” surgery.

The torn elbow ligament is considered to be serious, as Strasburg will be flying to the West Coast of the United States to get a second opinion, and then the decision will be made. Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo stated, “We feel that there’s a significant tear and that there’s going to be Tommy John surgery. We’re not going to drag this out. If the second opinion is surgery, we’ll certainly have surgery as soon as the next day,” according to ‘Bloomberg’.

The twenty-two year old right handed pitcher was hyped up to be the best pitching prospect who had came to Major League Baseball in decades, and then he lived up to the hype. This injury will bring a sudden halt to the rookie campaign of Strasburg.

Television stations were changing their schedules in order to air the rookie favorite’s games, and thousands more fans than usual were packing into stadiums to watch him throw his 100 mile and hour fast ball.

“It’s depressing in a sense but I look at the brighter side,” Rizzo stated. “I look at Tommy John surgery as a surgery that we’ve had great success at. We’ve got a big, powerful young 22-year-old right-handed pitcher with power stuff. The success rate for guys coming back from Tommy John and retaining that stuff is very good.”

The rookie signed a huge 4 year contract for a record 15 million dollars as the first draft pick in 2009. The Tommy John surgery was named for the first professional athlete who every successfully had the procedure in 1974. John went on to pitch until 1989. Recovery usually takes about a year.