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Jeremy Hellickson, the Tampa Bay Rays' projected fourth starter, had arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow last week to remove "loose bodies," and will likely be out until mid or late may, according to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Neither he nor the Rays have blamed his poor season in 2013 on an arm injury, and he apparently felt good when he started throwing, but according to Topkin, "something flared up . . . and the Rays had him come to St. Pete last week" so that Dr. Koco Eaton could do the surgery. While he's seldom the voice of optimism, Kevin Gengler did manage to make me feel a bit better:
FWIW Matt Moore had similar minor elbow surgery (to remove bone chip(s), J-Hell is "loose bodies", whatever that is) before his insane 2011.
— Kevin Gengler (@KevinGengler) February 3, 2014
This likely means that Jake Odorizzi will break camp as the Rays' fifth starter , but Alex Colome and Enny Romero could be in the mix for playing time as well, and rumors about free-agent options such as A.J. Burnett are sure to intensify. David Price is now very unlikely to be traded.
