Ever since Cory Gearrin was placed on the disabled list late last month with an elbow sprain, we feared the worst. The Braves confirmed today what most of us figured was inevitable: Cory Gearrin will be undergoing Tommy John surgery. Atlanta's side-arming righty had been guaranteed a place in the bullpen prior to his injury; he will now spend the entirety of 2014 resting and rehabilitating his right arm. Dave O'Brien had the news first:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Braves&src=hash">#Braves</a> reliever Cory Gearrin will have Tommy John elbow surgery and miss the entire season.</p>— David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajcbraves/statuses/453631039303213056">April 8, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Braves&src=hash">#Braves</a> Gearrin: "it's tough. Now just focus on putting the (rehab) work in and come back next year"</p>— David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajcbraves/statuses/453631392610414592">April 8, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Apparently Gearrin got three opinions before deciding to undergo the surgery.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>After getting a third opinion, Cory Gearrin has conceded he needs to undergo Tommy John surgery</p>— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/statuses/453632088902610944">April 8, 2014</a></blockquote>
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While this isn't as big of a loss for Atlanta as Kris Medlen or Brandon Beachy, Gearrin had put together two solid years in the Braves pen, where he flourished against right-handed batters. In his career, Gearrin has held righties to a .604 OPS but suffered from an .888 OPS mark against lefties.
Depending on how quickly he undergoes the procedure, we would expect to see him around the 2015 All-Star break.
We wish Cory the best of luck on his road to recovery.