As it turns out, Zack Wheeler could have been pitching with structural damage in his elbow last season after all.
In a report for Newsday, Marc Carig cites a source as saying Wheeler underwent a platelet-rich plasma treatment in November to promote healing of a torn tendon in his right elbow, with hopes he could continue pitching.
Despite the persistent and often severe elbow pain, Wheeler was given the option to continue to pitch or not late last year – he chose to pitch through the pain and complete his first full season in the big leagues. Wheeler was informed he would not further his injury by pitching, according to Carig.
While revealing, Wheeler probably had nothing to lose by trying to pitch through it, knowing full well if he ultimately needed surgery, he would’ve been lost for 2015 anyway. It’s logical to conclude he would’ve shut it down last summer and maybe opted for surgery if it could’ve impacted a meaningful portion of the 2015 season.
Wheeler went 8-3 with a 2.71 ERA in 96 1/3 innings over his final 16 starts in 2014.
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2 responses to “Zack Wheeler was pitching with a torn tendon in his elbow in 2014”
[…] Wheeler underwent an MRI last weekend which revealed the tear, but he was also pitching with significant pain in his elbow last season, which could be due to sustaining a partially torn tendon in his elbow. […]
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[…] Wheeler was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, it was later revealed he suffered a torn tendon in his elbow last summer, before he tore the […]
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