LONDON – Cubs pitchers Codi Heuer and Brandon Hughes have long surgery recoveries ahead of them, sidelining a pair of young and promising relievers likely for at least the the rest of the season.
Heuer underwent an operation Friday to fix a fracture in his elbow, And Hughes is set to undergo surgery at the end of the month to address the recurring swelling in his left knee.
Heuer was over six weeks into a rehab assignment in Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday when he doubled over in pain after a pitch.
“We all saw it,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “You knew in real time that he’d done something serious. And my heart breaks for him given how hard he worked to get back.”
Heuer was nearing the end of his rehab from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in March of last year. The Cubs had even extended his rehab assignment to make sure he’d honed his command before returning from the injured list.
Now, a return before spring training next year looks unlikely. His reconstructed ulnar collateral ligament is still intact – so strong that the end of his humerus sustained the damage rather than the ligament. He had screws and wires put in to hold everything in place.
While Tommy John surgery has well-tested protocols for return, an injury like Heuer’s has a less definite timeline. Recover requires immobilization, which adds a wrinkle in the rehab process.
Hughes, on the other hand, has a chance to return in spring training next year, barring any setbacks. He’s been battling swelling in his left knee all season, stemming from a meniscus surgery in 2015. With the cartilage worn down on the lateral side of his knee, he’d successfully managed the discomfort until this year.
“He’s never really gotten consistently to where he was last year with mechanics because of his knee,” Hoyer said. “And he’s fought so hard to get out there. He’s such a competitor. But it finally got to a point where it’s like, we’re just going to keep [taking] one step forward, one step back over and over.”
Hughes’ procedure, a distal femoral osteotomy, involves breaking or cutting the femur above the knee to shift his alignment, moving the pressure to part of his knee that still has cartilage.
Cubs veteran Michael Fulmer, who has a history of knee surgery, has successfully undergone the procedure in the past. The same surgeon who performed Fulmer’s operation, William Robertson, is set to perform Hughes’ surgery in Texas. Hughes is likely looking at about six months to heal followed by a few months of rehab.
Davis undergoes surgery
Cubs outfielder prospect Brennen Davis underwent core muscle surgery earlier this week, after missing significant time last season for a back surgery last season.
“It’s tough to see him go through this much adversity, especially back to back,” vice president of player development Jared Banner said. “It feels like he hasn’t really had a chance to get in rhythm over a long period of time. But he’s a very resilient guy.”
Davis was the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect entering last season. But in June, Davis underwent an operation to address sciatic nerve pain stemming from pressure caused by a vascular malformation. He was out for three months.
The Cubs selected Davis for the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost at-bats, but he left early with a stress reaction in his back.
