Drew Hutchison Having Tommy John Surgery

The Toronto Blue Jays are a walking disabled list. Seriously — click here and scroll down to the Jays team listing. Pretty soon, they’ll petition to have the 60-day DL renamed the “Blue Jays 60-Day Disabled List”.

Jays righthander Drew Hutchison, who left a start on June 15 with an elbow sprain, was trying to rehab it, not throwing for four to six weeks and hoping the rest would heal it.

It didn’t work. Tommy John surgery is next. Bob Elliott:

Drew Hutchison was supposed to have the lesser of the two elbow injuries suffered by Blue Jays starters in June.

However, the rookie right-hander left the Bobby Mattick facility Monday afternoon headed for surgery later this week with Dr. James Andrews.

Look how many changes have been made in the Toronto rotation due to injury this year:

The Jays will have lost [Brandon] Morrow, [Kyle] Drabek and Hutchison for 27 starts when they face the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night in the opener of a series at Tropicana Field.

J.A. Happ becomes the sixth starter to fill in for the missing trio.

Brett Cecil, Aaron Laffey, Carlos Villanueva, Jesse Chavez and Joel Carreno have filled in for the injured threesome. Only Laffey and Villanueva remain in the rotation, along with Ricky Romero, Henderson Alvarez and Happ.

And yet, Toronto plugs along, still just five games out of the AL wild-card lead. They’ll have a chance to move up this week as they face the Rays.

For more on the Blue Jays, please visit Bluebird Banter.

Drew Hutchison Attempting To Rehab Elbow Injury

Drew Hutchison is one of the three Blue Jays starters the team lost to injury in the blink of an eye. Hutchison was diagnosed with a sprained UCL in his elbow, and sometimes that means Tommy John surgery is on the horizon. In this case, though, Hutchison is going to try to rehab his elbow instead of going under the knife. The first step:

No surgery for now for Drew Hutchison. No-throw for 4-6 weeks.

— John Lott (@LottOnBaseball) June 22, 2012

Hutchison got a second opinion on his injury from Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who confirmed the original diagnosis. By avoiding Tommy John surgery now, Hutchison doesn't necessarily avoid Tommy John surgery forever, as his ligament could become more damaged during the rehab process, or simply fail to heal. But Hutchison is taking a shot with rehab, and if everything works out, he could be back on the mound far sooner than he could were he to go the other route.

Over 11 starts, Hutchison owns a 92 ERA+ and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly 2.5. Not an outstanding performance on its own, but a pretty outstanding performance for a 21-year-old.

Blue Jays' Drew Hutchison On DL With UCL Sprain

The Blue Jays have now lost three of their five rotation starters to injury.