Twins’ right-hander Trevor May has been diagnosed with a torn UCL in his pitching elbow, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. May sustained the injury while pitching against Team USA on Wednesday night and was diagnosed with a tear in his right elbow after undergoing an MRI later in the week.
The 27-year-old completed his third circuit with the Twins in 2016, putting up a 5.27 ERA, 3.6 BB/9 and 12.7 SO/9 over 42 2/3 innings. Chronic back pain kept him out of the bullpen for most of the season, as it did in 2015, though this is the first serious arm injury to crop up in his professional career.
May is scheduled to get a second opinion on his elbow on Sunday. Tommy John surgery still remains a strong possibility, which could set him back at least 12 months. Further comments from Berardino suggest that the right-hander is open to “modified Tommy John [surgery], PRP, or ‘old fashioned Tommy John,'” all of which would require some rehab in the weeks and months to come.
Prior to his injury, May was working his way back to the rotation for the 2017 season and had been the frontrunner for the Twins’ fifth rotation spot. In his absence, the club will select from a pool of candidates that includes right-handers Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey and left-hander Adalberto Mejia, among two or three others.
