Aaron Gleeman of NBC Sports reports that starting pitcher Lance Lynn of the St. Louis Cardinals will miss the entire 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery on Tuesday. Lance struggled with a strained forearm mid-season, as well as an injured ankle towards the end of the season. He threw fewer total innings this season than he had in either of the previous two seasons, logging only 175 innings in 2015.
#STLCards pitcher Lance Lynn underwent “Tommy John” surgery earlier today. Lynn, 28, will miss the 2016 season.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) November 10, 2015
J.J. Bailey of KMOV4 St. Louis wrote that this is Lynn’s second year of a three-year, $22 million deal with the St. Louis ball club. The twenty-eight-year old righty will make $7.5 million in 2015 from the disabled list and another $7.5 million in 2017, the final year of his contract. The Cardinals are waiting to see if starter John Lackey will accept their qualifying offer, though no player ever has. The Cardinals do have a shot to sign him in free agency. If they do not sign him, they will receive a draft pick from the team that does.
While the Cardinals pitching rotation still seems deep, bolstered by Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez, and Jaime Garcia, there are concerns. Wainwright is coming back from an Achilles tear and Garci has had a hard time staying healthy. There are reports that Tyler Lyons could be a replacement for Lynn in the rotation, who ended the season with a 3.75 ERA through 60 innings after making eight starts and nine relief appearances (Sports Illistrated).
Fox 2 Now of St. Louis explains, “the surgery was on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Lynn also had the ulnar nerve in his arm transposed and bone chips removed.” According to MLBReports.com, Lance Lynn will be the twenty-sixth Major League pitcher to succumb to the infamous surgery. Other notable pitchers on the 2015 list; Jason Vargas, Yu Darvish, Zach Wheeler, Joe Nathan, and Alex Cobb.
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