One of baseball's most promising young pitchers will be out of action for the foreseeable future, as the Padres announced Friday that right-hander Dinelson Lamet will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery after an MRI exam revealed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his pitching elbow.
The 25-year-old Lamet had initially opted to try and rehabilitate his elbow without Tommy John surgery but both he and the Padres changed course Friday and opted instead to go with the procedure.
Lamet went 7-8 with a 4.57 ERA as a rookie last season, and was expected to be a major contributor to the Padres' rotation heading into Spring Training.