In the coming weeks, the Twins will determine the fate of righthander Kyle Gibson, the latest pitcher to go down with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.
The surgery to repair that ligament is named after its first recipient, Tommy John, who prolonged his career after having his elbow repaired. So many pitchers have come back from Tommy John surgery to pitch well that shoulder surgery is considered to be a greater risk for an abbreviated career.
Observers are curious to see how the Twins proceed with their top pitching prospect.
Based on your e-mails, armchair surgeons want Gibson under the knife immediately. Twins fans probably are going on precedent, as rehabilitation for Francisco Liriano and Pat Neshek didn't go well and both ended up on the operating table anyway.
In 2008, Neshek tried to rehab for three months after injuring his elbow in May. He didn't get operated on until November. In an e-mail, he wrote he regrets not having surgery right away because he ended up missing 10 months of regular-season baseball.
"For me, if I had anything resembling what I had before, I would opt for surgery ASAP," wrote Neshek, now with the Padres. "Waiting around was a mess and it really set me back. ... I really felt forgotten, and I think being alone doing rehab for two years was not a positive thing."
There are more recent precedents. Seattle's David Aardsma, Oakland's Brett Anderson and Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer all tore their UCLs, all tried rehab and all ended up having Tommy John surgery.
But Arodys Vizcaino's case suggests rehab can work. He suffered a partial tear of the UCL last year, rehabbed, returned by the end of the year and recently made his major league debut for Atlanta after striking out 100 batters in 97 innings in the minors.
