Cory Gearrin may undergo Tommy John surgery with partial ligament tear in right elbow - MLB

Braves reliever Cory Gearrin likely needs Tommy John surgery after being diagnosed with a partial ligament tear in his right elbow, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports. Gearrin, though, will seek a second opinion before making a decision.

Gearrin injured his elbow in the last week of spring training. He didn’t have a particularly productive spring, finishing with a 6.35 ERA in 11 1/3 innings. Gearrin, who turns 28 on April 14, has posted decent numbers at Triple-A over the last three seasons and was slightly above average at the big league level in 31 innings compiled in the first half of last season with the Braves.

Gearrin wasn’t high up on the bullpen depth chart, but he is just the latest in a long line of Braves pitchers to succumb to the injury bug. He joins Brandon Beachy, Gavin Floyd, Kris Medlen, Mike Minor, and Jonny Venters on the shelf.

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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.”