Jarrod Parker Suffers Terrible Setback in Rehab Start
With the Oakland Athletics‘ pitching staff in a state of disarray, it seemed like help was on the horizon, just a few weeks from stepping in and attempting to stabilize the rocky group. On Friday, Jarrod Parker was making his fourth minor league rehab start, the second with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, and returning by the end of this month seemed like a very real possibility.
But in the rehab start, the unthinkable happened to Parker. On his 87th pitch of the night, Parker threw a ball that, as Susan Slusser put it, “didn’t make it to home plate”. Parker fractured the medial epicondyle area of his humerus bone (the bone running from the shoulder to the elbow), and it’s possible that due to this injury, Parker will need to go through Tommy John surgery for a third time.
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The part of the bone that Parker fractured is where the graft for his Ulnar Collateral Ligament reconstruction is anchored. Parker will definitely require surgery to fix the bone, but it is uncertain if the graft will hold, or if it will need to be fixed for a third time.
The ninth overall pick in 2007 underwent the ligament replacement procedure for the first time on October 28th, 2009, when he was a minor leaguer in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization. Of course, he missed all of the 2010 season, but returned for the 2011 season, and made 26 starts for Arizona’s Double-A affiliate, the Mobile BayBears. He would also make his major league debut in September of that year.
After the season, Parker was acquired by the A’s, and was a key piece to the big league rotation over the next two seasons. In 61 starts, he went 25-16 with a 3.73 ERA, and heading into 2014, he figured to continue his development into an ace.
But on March 24th, 2014, Parker was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time, costing him the entire season, and the early part of 2015 as well.
Parker was so close to returning to the big league rotation, and on pace to return in late May, right around the projected return time. Now, if Parker is dealt the blow of having another elbow operation, he will be forced to go through the rehab another time, costing him another season, and potentially much, much longer.
A few pitchers have undergone the procedure three times, and Jason Isringhausen has been the most successful of the bunch. He underwent his third Tommy John surgery in 2009, at the age of 36, and returned to pitch in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He pitched in 103 games over those two years.
Recently, former Atlanta Braves pitcher Jonny Venters, currently in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization, underwent his third procedure, in September of last year.
Parker does have time on his side, as he is only 26 years old, 10 years younger than Isringhausen at the time of his surgery. 2016 will be left to rehabbing, but Parker could return in 2017.
There’s no word if the Tommy John procedure has to be done yet, and with any luck, Parker will be able to avoid that. He will have to go under the knife for his humerus fracture, but that is a lot less threatening than the worst case scenario.
In an effort to bolster the bullpen that has been terrible this year (their 5.23 ERA ranks 29th in baseball), the Athletics acquired Edward Mujica from the Boston Red Sox. He spent the 2013 season as the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer and was an All-Star, and has been a middle reliever for the past season-plus with Boston. To make room on the 40-man roster for Mujica, Parker was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.