Monday, April 27, 2015

Brandon McCarthy is Done - Has Torn UCL


Our worst fears have been realized. The most heralded free agent signing of the off-season has just blown back on us.  It has just been reported by Bill Shaikin on twitter that starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy is done.  He has a torn UCL - ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.
Although Mattingly has yet to say if McCarthy will have Tommy John surgery, via Shaikin on twitter.
Needless to say, this really sucks!

As you'll recall, Brandon signed a four year $48M contract contract in early December.  Overall, his addition to the team was heralded by many; especially the sabermetric set - who saw his potential to be a top line starter.  Unfortunately, his injury prone nature that includes a stress fracture to his shoulder, shoulder surgery a couple of years later and surgery to relieve cranial pressure due to being hit in the head by a batted ball has not abated.  Now, he has to deal with a torn UCL.

As some would say, this guy has some bad luck... And so do we.  I'm so hoping he doesn't become this ownerships version of Jason Schmidt.

In light of this announcement, Brandon McCarthy was rather introspective on twitter.
At least Brandon has a good sense of humor.

UPDATE: McCarthy is now officially on the DL, so relief pitcher Adam Liberatore has been called back up.  Via a press release:
The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed right-handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to April 26) with a right UCL tear and recalled left-handed pitcher Adam Liberatore from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Liberatore, 27, last pitched on Saturday for Oklahoma City, striking out the side in a scoreless inning against Omaha (Royals), and tossed 4.1 scoreless innings in three appearances with the Dodgers during his first stint with the club, April 17-21, allowing just one hit (1-for-13, .077) and striking out four. In three minor league outings this year with Oklahoma City, Liberatore allowed one run on three hits and struck out five in 3.0 innings.

McCarthy picked up the win on Saturday at San Diego, but was removed from the game during the sixth inning with right elbow tightness. In four starts this season, he’s gone 3-0 with a 5.87 ERA (15 ER/23.0 IP).
Photo at the very top via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.

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1 comment:

  1. I was worried something like this would happen. I attended the game and he looked like he tried to stretch his arm too far until he cam out after giving up 6 runs. I'm still working on the blog about the game itself which includes a brief 10 second video on McCarthy's mechanics before the game.

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