Twins reliever Ryan O'Rourke will have season-ending elbow surgery

Arlington, Texas – Twins lefthanded reliever Ryan O'Rourke has discovered that a magnetic resonance imaging exam does not always detect injuries.

O'Rourke's season is over after he was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow — thanks to the MRI. Once he settles on an orthopedist, he will have season-ending surgery. He asked if there was any way he could avoid surgery, and was told there was not.

"If I could put a two-month timeline on it, I would say that," O'Rourke said. "There's reality, and it is a lot longer than that."

O'Rourke ruled out any chance of a modified procedure that would enable him to return to action sooner. He's looking at pitching again in early 2018.

O'Rourke was diagnosed with a strained flexor pronator mass near his elbow during spring training. An MRI revealed no structural damage, so O'Rourke started a throwing program. Discomfort persisted, and O'Rourke sought a second opinion. He flew to Texas with the team so he could be examined by Dr. Keith Meister.

He got answers, just not the ones he wanted.

"The first MRI, everything they showed me, I agreed with," O'Rourke said. "And we put dye in my arm and it didn't leak anywhere."

"They couldn't see a leak, I couldn't see a leak. So it was read correctly," O'Rourke said. "The second one we did, the dye didn't leak again. But what we delved into deeper, it made complete sense. I think my arm has been through a lot in 28 years of throwing. A lot of scar tissue has built up there. The dye is not going to leak through the scar tissue, but things could still be torn in there, which obviously was the case."

O'Rourke was 0-1 with a 3.96 ERA in 26 games with the Twins last season. He was battling for a bullpen role in camp when he was injured.

"We were all holding on to a little hope that he could get a couple options to how he should proceed rather than undergo the Tommy John procedure,'' Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

Robbie Grossman, the AL leader in on-base percentage, was not in the lineup Tuesday as Molitor elected to use Kennys Vargas as the designated hitter.

Grossman entered Tuesday with a .448 on-base percentage. He had 15 walks, which ranked second in the league to teammate Miguel Sano, who had 17.

"It's tough," Molitor said. "You try to go a little deeper where the fits are. Robbie has done a good job on both sides of the plate. He's been in the middle of a lot of things that we have done offensively."

Grossman can play in the outfield, which he did Monday while Vargas was the DH. He's not as strong defensively as starters Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, but he could be an option against lefthanded starters. In fact, he's expected to start in the outfield Wednesday because the Twins face Rangers lefty Cole Hamels.

Righthander Trevor May is in Texas as well. Meister performed Tommy John surgery on May on March 22, so May joined the team while he went for a checkup. May said he remains on schedule in his recovery.

"No pain, outside of anything weird," he said.

May will spend about another week in the brace he has worn since the surgery.