LOS ANGELES — Tommy John surgery is so common, with hundreds of pitchers from high school to the big leagues undergoing the elbow ligament replacement procedure every year, and its success rate (80% to 90%) so high that it almost seems routine.
It is anything but, the grueling 16-month rehabilitation process, with its endless hours of strength and range-of-motion exercises, the painful breaking up of scar tissue and the months-long throwing progression, accompanied by an equally challenging mental component.
“The doctors have done a great job with the surgery, and guys are coming back and performing, but as a player, you feel isolated and ostracized, like you’re not a part of the team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
