Cory Luebke will miss entire 2014 season, could need a second Tommy John surgery - MLB

Unfortunate news from Corey Brock at MLB.com:

SAN DIEGO — Padres left-hander Cory Luebke will miss his second consecutive season after it was determined that he’ll likely need a second reconstructive surgery on his left elbow.

Luebke, 28, had an MRI on Friday that showed a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

Luebke had his first Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery on May 23, 2012 and apparently never fully recovered from that procedure. The southpaw looked like a budding star in 2011 when he registered an outstanding 3.29 ERA, 1.067 WHIP and 154 strikeouts across 139 2/3 innings as a rookie, but elbow issues have now completely derailed his career.

“I feel bad for him … from 2011 through the first part of 2012, he was certainly on his way,” Padres general manager Josh Byrnes told MLB.com on Tuesday. “This is a real setback. There’s been a lot of missed time. Hopefully in a year or so, he can get back to being Cory Luebke. This whole thing has been a mystery.”

The one big consolation for Luebke is that he signed a four-year, $12 million contract extension with the Friars in his first taste of salary arbitration. That deal pays him $3 million in 2014 and $5.25 million in 2015.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”