Kyle Drabek’s sprained UCL will require Tommy John surgery, Blue Jays manager John Farrell said Monday.
Drabek had his first Tommy John surgery in high school before the Phillies made him the 18th overall pick in the 2006 draft. He was sent to Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade and he made his major league debut at the end of the 2010 season.
While Drabek was a major bust in 2011, he was back showing plenty of promise this year, particularly in the spring and in April, a month he finished 3-2 with a 2.40 ERA. Unfortunately, wildness took hold after that, possibly because something was going wrong in his elbow. At the time he was placed on the DL this month, he was 4-7 with a 4.67 ERA and an ugly 47/47 K/BB ratio in 71 1/3 innings.
Drabek probably won’t be back with the Jays until mid-2013. He, Brian Wilson, Joakim Soria and Joey Devine will all attempt to come back from their second Tommy John surgeries next year. It’s not at all common, but Chris Capuano, Jason Isringhausen and Hong-Chih Kuo are among the pitchers to have success after two Tommy Johns.
