Jake McGee to have Tommy John surgery

by battlekow on Jun 26, 2008 4:48 PM EDT Comment 15 comments

A source close to Tampa Bay pitching prospect Jake McGee's family has informed Project Prospect that after meeting with Dr. James Andrews, McGee will undergo Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound lefty had a 20% strikeout rate with Double-A Montgomery this season -- he had a 30.8% K rate between High-A and Double-A last season.

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There was this big bang once, we've been sharpening up our teeth
They say there was this big bang once, but the clergyman doesn't agree

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This fucking sucks.

by Cory Alexander on Jun 26, 2008 5:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not impressed

TJ has a very high success rate, but command is usually the thing that takes the longest to get back

Tools Whore

Sign Bonds!

by Tyler on Jun 26, 2008 5:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Even the best surgeons in the world say this surgery has an 85% success rate, defined as coming back and pitching again. This does not take into account guys like Billy Koch, Kerry Wood, etc who returned to pitching but were never the same again. Dustin McGowan is 2 years removed from TJ and while would fall into the “success” category, most would say he’s still not back to where he was right before he got hurt and may never get there.

A guy the age of McGee, even if there were a high probability of him reaching his potential before this injury, I’d say its a 50-50 proposition for him to reach his pre-surgery potential at this point. I don’t know much about him but if he’s short on athleticism or desire in his rehab his chances go down.

Baseball Instructor - www.frozenropes.com

by HuskerBob on Jun 27, 2008 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks

I so agree. I thoroughly blame Jim Callis, who repeats like a mantra that TJ is no longer a big deal. Complete and utter nonsense. Yes, some pitchers make it back and are better than ever. Others are fine. Others are significantly worse. That last category is still a pretty big one, at both the major and minor league level.

TJ is not a good thing—or do we all think that Cesar Carrillo is still a top prospect?

by scooter on Jun 27, 2008 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that is why

you can never have too much pitching..mcgee’s progress is delayed 8 months and wade davis’s stuff has taken a step back.

by jsmall404 on Jun 26, 2008 9:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Say hello to

Jeremy Hellickson

The Giants need to sign Harry Doyle.

by jrose643 on Jun 26, 2008 10:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the rays are so loaded

...it’s almost nice that now they won’t have to break every freakin’ stud they have into the rotation at the same time

I'll warm up with you anytime

by ufoboy90 on Jun 27, 2008 1:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

WTF?

I am SO sick of hearing this. Yes, the Rays have a nice system on paper, but it has become a bit overrated over the last year or so. The only sure-fire stud pitcher they have is Price – there are question marks about the rest of them. McGee is now down for a year, Davis has taken a step back and may end up in the pen, Hellickson has had great stats but also could easily end up in the pen, Niemann is nothing anymore, and the majority of the rest are all hope and projection.

Trying to rationalize this as almost a good thing because TB just has so many pitching prospects makes me think you’re fairly new to baseball.

by deezle on Jun 28, 2008 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Response

I think you’ll find that there are question marks about almost every pitching prospect. And sometimes, even the ones who are “sure fire studs” don’t work out in the end.

That being said, you’re right about one thing. You can NEVER have enough quality young pitching – if you somehow get fortunate enough to have an excess that means anything, there is always a very strong trade market for that commodity. Yet another reason why teams should never ever draft for need . . .

by mrkupe on Jun 28, 2008 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good Luck Jake

Hopefully he can rebound to a very nice career.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Jun 27, 2008 2:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Question

Does this further the school of thought that McGee is destined for the bullpen? Lets say he does have control problems from here because of the TJ. Is there a record of any big guys who throw hard, albeit with control problems, closing games?

by demondeaconsbaseball on Jun 27, 2008 2:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There have been plenty of those guys

Although not too many of them have been top-notch closers. Francisco Cordero, Danys Baez, Kyle Farnsworth all immediately come to mind, and I’m sure there have been many others.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jun 27, 2008 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs