San Diego Padres: Anderson Espinoza to Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Andrew Schmid | Jul 29, 2017

MILWAUKEE, WI - MAY 13: A San Diego Padres hat sits in the dugout during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on May 13, 2016 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

The San Diego Padres top pitching prospect, Anderson Espinoza, will undergo Tommy john surgery to repair a torn UCL.

The San Diego Padres received some bad news on Friday when news broke that top prospect Anderson Espinoza will require Tommy John Surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament. As Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors wrote, the operation will take place sometime next week.

Espinoza only joined the Padres last year in a trade with the Boston Red Sox for Drew Pomeranz, as our own David Hill covered. The deal at the time received some criticism due to the high price that the Red Sox paid given the risks. Keith Law of ESPN had pegged Espinoza as the 14^th best prospect in the game just a few weeks prior to the transaction, and the Padres allegedly embellished the status of Pomeranz’s health.

Pomeranz turned out to be a dud for the Red Sox last season, showing all the signs of regression. His strikeout rate dipped, opponent hits and home runs nearly doubled, and his earned run average gained two runs. The current season has been a bit prettier, but at least he managed to stay healthy.

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In an interesting turn of fate, the San Diego Padres became the team that received damaged goods. Espinoza similarly flopped down the stretch – although his performance came with the team’s Single-A affiliate. He has not, however, through a single pitch this season. Now that he will go under the knife next week, 2017 will certainly be a wash and he will almost certainly miss a significant chunk of 2018.

Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported earlier this month that it has indeed been forearm tightness, a common sign of a torn UCL, that has held up the right-handed pitcher’s season. The team initially shut him down and allowed him time to heal naturally, only allowing the youngster to play catch. Unfortunately, it appears that the highly cautious approach has not only been unsuccessful but ultimately wasted two years of development.

This comes as a major blow to the San Diego Padres, as Espinoza’s elite pedigree that drew comparisons to Pedro Martinez will be delayed from reaching maturity for another season or two. At 19 years of age, youth is indeed on his side, but now he will likely not be ready for major-league action until 2020 at the earliest.

Next: Mets Acquire A.J. Ramos from Marlins

The only real upside to this story is that it will be unlikely to have a significant impact on the team’s deadline actions. The Padres are currently in a race for last place with the San Francisco Giants, rendering any potential acquisitions that would require major prospect capital to be dubious at best.

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