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.