Brett Anderson Had Tommy John Surgery
By Editorial Staff
Brett Anderson’s fears were realized Thursday morning, as the A’s starter underwent Tommy John surgery. Anderson originally thought the procedure may be necessary when he was sidelined in early June.
The 23 year old has had his share of shoulder issues. 2011 marked only the 5th year of Anderson’s professional career, and the right hander has already been on the disabled list three times with shoulder related problems.
Last season Anderson experienced discomfort in his throwing arm, but was able to return to the mound for the A’s after resting his shoulder and receiving a platelet rich injection.
Anderson finished 2010 strong and had a solid start to this season. He entered a May 31st start against the Yankees sporting an ERA of 2.84, but was shelled for 9 runs over 5.1 innings. Things didn’t get much better for Anderson during his next outing, when the Red Sox put up a 5 spot on the starter.
After the game, Anderson returned to Oakland for evaluation. He had lost velocity on his pitches and feared the worst.
Again the team tried injections and rest, hoping Anderson could return as he did in 2010 and avoid major surgery. Unfortunately the shoulder did not respond well to treatment and the aforementioned procedure was required.
Anderson will be out at least a year and could miss as many as two seasons depending on the recovery process. Oakland will certainly miss the right hander, as Anderson has been one of the team’s best pitchers over the past 3 seasons. Over that span he’s started 62 games with an ERA and WHIP of 3.66 and 1.267 for the Athletics.
Anderson marked the second starting pitcher the A’s lost to a season ending injury this season. Dallas Braden also had shoulder issues and has been out since April. He underwent surgery in May and it is yet to be known if he will be available to start the 2012 season.
Oakland has sustained numerous losses to their rotation, but has still managed the league’s third best earned run average among starters. Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill have performed well as expected, but less proven arms Guillermo Moscoso and Tyson Ross have stepped up big for the club.
Before he himself fell victim to injury, Ross sustained an ERA of 2.61 over 6 starts. Moscoso has been even better, holding hitters to a .186 batting average on the year with an ERA of 2.16 and 1.04 WHIP.
For more on the Athletics, be sure to check out Swingin’ A’s.