ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs is having a tough time accepting the need to have Tommy John elbow surgery on Monday that will sideline him until around the middle of the 2024 season.
“Devastating,” he said Saturday.
Springs left an April 13 game with what initially was said to be a nerve issue, but an MRI and visits to Rays team orthopedic Dr. Koco Eaton and specialist Dr. Keith Meister led to the diagnosis of a left elbow flexor strain. Springs said the imaging showed “a significant tear” in his ulnar collateral ligament and that Meister was quite certain that surgery was required because rehab and rest wouldn’t work.
“It wasn’t going to hold up from what he saw with everything,” Springs said. “So, I mean, it sucks. It really, really does. It’s kind of hard to believe my season’s already over. But there’s nothing I can do about it. It is what it is.”
Springs said the plan is to have a hybrid surgery, where the ligament is repaired and a brace is installed with it. Under a standard recovery protocol, he could rejoin the Rays rotation around June 2024.
Springs, 31, had a breakout 2022 season after transitioning in May from the bullpen to the rotation, posting an 8-5, 2.65 record in 24 starts, while working a career-high 135 1/3 innings overall. The Rays rewarded him in January with a four-year contract for a guaranteed $31 million, and he had an MRI then that he said was clean, indicating the injury may have occurred during the April 13 game.
“The biggest thing is I feel like I let my teammates down not being out there,” Springs said. “I know injuries happen. But I want to be out there and pitch. Everything, the money and finances and all that is kind of secondary to me. I want to compete and play.”
