The Tampa Bay Rays were hoping for a positive development in Jeffrey Springs’ immediate future. The 30-year-old right-hander left a mid-week game last week with left arm ulnar neuritis, which pointed to there potentially being an issue with the ulnar nerve in his elbow. Since then, Tampa Bay has been quite mum about Springs’ status, as the team, who holds a league-best 14-3 record, prepared for the worst.
On Thursday, the club announced that Springs had been diagnosed with a left-elbow flexor strain and would be placed on the 15-day injured list. Maybe that was procedural in nature because the expectation is that the Rays’ starter will, unfortunately, have to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery that will sideline him well into next season. Marc Tpokin of the Tampa Bay Times was the first to report the horrible development for the Rays.
“Obviously, he’s going on the IL with an elbow issue,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said via Topkin earlier Tuesday. “I think in fairness to Jeff, he’s still processing the information that he’s gotten. He met with (Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday). So I think we’re a day or two from him coming up with a decision on what is ideal for him and then a timetable from there.”
On the season, Springs had been pretty fantastic, pitching to a 2-0 record with a 0.56 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched.
The MLB world reacted to the horrible Rays’ development on social media:
Huge blow to Rays, Springs was so sharp to start season 👇🏼 https://t.co/SAy9AhbgQq
— Jeff Butera (@BayNews9Jeff) April 18, 2023
Awful news. Springs looked poised for a really special season. #RaysUp https://t.co/dDQaCmncrN
— Kenny Morales (@KennyMoralesTV) April 18, 2023
That escalated rather quickly. https://t.co/CgfK2BFleH
— Chris Towers Is In Baseball Season, But It's Early (@CTowersCBS) April 18, 2023
What is going on in Tampa? Yes, they develop pitching really well. They also seem to have a lot of TJ surgeries. https://t.co/459BWfoi9V
— Garth Iorgy (@GarthIorgy) April 18, 2023
Such a bummer Springs was off to an unreal start. https://t.co/IEXBfLtM1J
— 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥 𝗗𝗙𝗦 & 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗦 (@LineStarApp) April 18, 2023
Nooo. This is such a bummer. https://t.co/yWL91mv5rJ
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 18, 2023
Very unfortunate for a guy who looked on the cusp of sonething special https://t.co/GXu2pll5Uz
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 18, 2023
Holy carp this escalated quickly https://t.co/Z0GnT1RW23
— DRaysBay (@draysbay) April 18, 2023
Wow Springs getting Tommy John! The 13-0 start seems like ancient history. Tough break but wow…how many Rays pitchers have had TJ or other major injuries in the last 5 years? Seems excessive. https://t.co/9erpQkhevG
— JP Peterson (@FanStreamJP) April 18, 2023
“Surely the Rays will collapse after THIS pitching injury!” https://t.co/7nmcFUAVjB
— Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB) April 18, 2023
Really crushing news. #Rays https://t.co/Ah0wwB4irs
— Tom Krasniqi (@TKras) April 18, 2023
