White Sox pitching prospect Dane Dunning has undergone Tommy John surgery, the club announced to reporters including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). He’ll miss the entire 2019 season and, in all likelihood, some of the 2020 campaign as well.
This news isn’t surprising given the course of recent events. The club had acknowledged that replacement of Dunning’s ulnar collateral ligament was a possibility.
Dunning was generally considered one of the game’s hundred or so best overall prospects, even after his otherwise excellent 2018 campaign ended with elbow issues. Before that development, which ultimately proved a precursor to today’s procedure, Dunning had spun 86 1/3 innings of 2.71 ERA ball at the High-A and Double-A levels. He recorded 10.4 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in that stretch while drawing grounders on more than half the balls put in play against him.