Padres outfielder Alex Dickerson will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a sprained UCL in his throwing elbow, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports (Twitter link). Dickerson had been considering non-surgical options but instead he’ll go under the knife near the end of March, and be sidelined for the entire 2018 season.
Dickerson, 27, made a good impression as a rookie in 2016, hitting .257/.333/.455 with 10 homers over 285 plate appearances for San Diego. He hasn’t played a big league game since, however, as back problems and eventual surgery sidelined him for all of 2017. Dickerson was already facing a tough path to a 25-man roster spot due to the Padres’ crowded left field situation, and now he’ll lose another year of his career due to the Tommy John procedure.
A third-round pick for the Pirates in the 2011 draft, Dickerson came to the Padres in November 2013 in a trade for Jaff Decker and Miles Mikolas. Dickerson has posted very strong minor league numbers, with a career .309/.367/.501 slash line over 2138 PA down on the farm. Baseball America ranked him as San Diego’s 22nd-best prospect prior to the 2016 season.