WEDNESDAY: Griffin’s surgery took place today, according to the Athletics’ official Twitter feed.
TUESDAY: Griffin will, in fact, have Tommy John surgery, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets.
FRIDAY 7:12pm: “No decision on the next course of treatment will be finalized” until Dr. Mehlhoff sees Griffin on Tuesday, A’s assistant GM David Forst tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).
6:28pm: Athletics righty A.J. Griffin will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, a source tells Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com. An elbow issue first cropped up for the 26-year-old pitcher in March, and word came from A’s manager Bob Melvin this week that Griffin would visit Houston-area specialist Dr. Thomas Mehlhoff on Tuesday for a second opinion.
Griffin provided 200 innings of 3.83 ball as a member of the A’s rotation last year. The A’s had already lost Jarrod Parker to Tommy John in March. The A’s seemed to have a surplus of starting pitching when they reached an agreement with Scott Kazmir in December, but attrition has taken its toll. Nonetheless, Oakland’s 2.74 rotation ERA ranks first in the American League this year. The group is comprised of Kazmir, Sonny Gray, Dan Straily, Tommy Milone, and the surprising Jesse Chavez. The A’s may still be compelled to add to their starting pitching depth as the summer wears on.
In an ESPN article today, Jayson Stark addressed this year’s Tommy John epidemic, of which Griffin appears to be the 17th victim.
Give me a break!
Careful what you ask for. You might be next.
or he might get a kit kat bar.
Well that sucks. Not a huge loss, but sucks.
Call me crazy but the A’s should give Zito a call
Yeahhhhh that’s crazy. Someone who’ll be DFA’d soon is a better option than Zito.
Blanton already fills the role as former Athletics pitcher looking to find new life after starting a promising career with Oakland, only to hit rock bottom elsewhere.
He left the team the same week he signed.
Crazy
2012 was the year of Torn ACL’s (Basketball, Baseball, Football), 2014 is now the year of Tommy John smh.
Can we finally say that this has officially jumped from “freak anomaly” to “something that needs to be officially addressed” by baseball?
Seventeen TJ surgeries in a four-month span suggests that something’s clearly rotten in Denmark.
what’s baseball supposed to do? i think bionic arms is the only logical answer.
At this point, it might be a venture worth undertaking. LOL
Whenever I hear “x has elbow tightness and will rest for the next two weeks” it basically means he will have TJ surgery.
Has there ever been an example of a pitcher who has had an elbow soreness/tightness problem keep him out two weeks and it _not_been Tommy John?
Not a big name but I would say the closest thing I could think of would be the Ramon Ortiz incident last year.
C.J. Edwards turned out okay.
Chris Sale?
How are they still in first with loses their top 3 starters from last year? Beane GM of the year again?
Yet they’ll still win the West, so deep is their trough of arms.
I love that we’re referring to these guys as victims now
Where’s the MLBTR “Tommy John Tracker” when you need it??
get well soon, AJ