Monday morning, the Cincinnati Reds announced that ace pitcher Edinson Volquez went under the knife. Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek performed a 90-minute procedure on Volquez's right arm to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament. In layman's terms, Volquez received the famed Tommy John surgery in his elbow. As is the case with most of these procedures, he's likely to miss an entire calendar year before attempting a return.
Volquez went 4-2 with a 4.35 ERA in just 9 starts this season. Last year, he was one of the pleasant surprises in baseball, going 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts after coming to Cincy in the Josh Hamilton trade.
We've seen many younger pitchers come back from this particular procedure even stronger, once fully healed. He's only 26 years old, so the smart money is on Volquez returning to form by the beginning of the 2011 season at the absolute latest, assuming there aren't severe setbacks.
