Yankees' Eovaldi To Undergo Elbow Surgeries, Miss 2017 Season
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is not expected to pitch again until 2018 after being diagnosed with a serious elbow injury.
The hard-throwing right-hander, who was placed on the disabled list Friday, will need two surgeries after partially tearing his ulnar collateral ligament and tearing his flexor tendon.
According to The Wall Street Journal's Jared Diamond, Eovaldi's flexor tendon was torn completely off the bone.
Eovaldi will have to undergo Tommy John surgery for the UCL tear. He also had the operation in high school. The recovery time for a second such surgery is estimated to be 14 to 18 months, ESPN's Wallace Matthews reported.
Yankees team doctor Chris Ahmad will perform the surgeries, WFAN's Sweeny Murti reported.
Eovaldi was pulled from his start last Wednesday at Boston after just 12 pitches because of elbow discomfort. The 26-year-old missed the final 3½ weeks of last season with elbow inflammation.
Eovaldi was having an up-and-down season. At the end of May, he was 6-2 with a 3.71 ERA and enjoyed one stretch when he won five consecutive starts. But Eovaldi, who was briefly demoted to the bullpen at in July, finishes the year with a 9-8 record and a 4.76 ERA.
He was scheduled to be arbitration eligible after this season and to become a free agent after 2017.
