Ryu to Go Under the Knife

The Dodgers are now down two starting pitchers for the 2015 season.

Just weeks after losing Brandon McCarthy to Tommy John Surgery we now have to contend with a second starter going under the knife.  This time it's Hyun-Jin Ryu and he'll undergo left shoulder  arthroscopic surgery tomorrow (Thursday).  It will be performed by Dodger team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

From what I understand this procedure is meant to allow the doctor an opportunity to take a closer look at what ails Ryu.  As you know, Ryu suffered some pain and inflammation in his shoulder during spring training, and subsequently experience a significant drop in velocity while rehabbing recently.  Last week they performed an MRI and found no major structural damage in his left shoulder.  Unfortunately, the MRI didn't provide much help in diagnosing Ryu's problems, so he'll have surgery to essentially clean things up and give the doctor a chance to take a closer look.

We do not have a solid timetable for his return, but should know more after tomorrows procedure.  Nevertheless, I think it's safe to assume that Ryu is done for the season. Via Andrew Friedman via Mark Saxon at ESPN:

"It hasn't progressed as quickly as we all hoped, and he's worked extremely hard to get back. It just isn't happening as quickly as he would like," Friedman said. "It's not a totally clear-cut, black-and-white issue. It's more involved than that. We have an excellent doctor in ElAttrache and a very good medical department, and everyone is putting their heads together to see what makes the most sense."

Fortunately, the Dodger front office built an impressive array of depth with starting pitching over the winter, so it's unlikely they'll feel hard-pressed to do anything drastic to add to the rotation right away.  We've got a number of pitchers raring to prove themselves on the mound.  Still, you should expect them to send out various feelers throughout the league to see who is available.  BTW, I still think it's unlikely the Dodgers will trade their top prospects: Seager and Urias.  But De Leon, Verdugo, Holmes, etc. might be available for the right player.

Photo above taken by Yasiel Puig/LA Dodgers 2015

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