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End the lockout for the Tommy John patients

A one-year recovery is hard enough.

It takes a minimum of 12 months for a full network of blood vessels to form around a replacement of an ulnar collateral ligament — aptly known as the UCL, in baseball and medical circles. You cannot expedite this process: don’t expect to work ‘ahead’ in rehab for this very reason.

This is the basis of Tommy John surgery and rehab, a one-year minimum process where a torn UCL is replaced with a graft and fortified into game action again. Light to moderate bullpen work will get an arm through months 8-9; simulated games might be mixed in during months 11-12.