Alex Cobb to have Tommy John surgery

Alex Cobb will elect to have Tommy John surgery and forgo further rehab on his throwing arm, according to reports out of Tropicana Field. This is a serious blow to the Tampa Bay Rays, who are already battling their way through the division with 20 injured players on the depth chart.

#rays Cobb says he will have Tommy John surgery

— RMooneyTBO (@RMooneyTBO) May 8, 2015

After learning the case of forearm tendinitis in his pitching forearm stemmed from a partial tear to his UCL ligament, Cobb originally chose rehab, but he has not recovered as hoped with the ligament fully tearing.

Earlier this week, Cobb received a platelets injection after visiting team Dr. James Andrews who is a prominent Tommy John surgeon. He will perform the operation on Thursday.

The hope was to rehabilitate the partial tear in his elbow ligament, but that will not come to pass. The partial tear was revealed to have become a full tear this week, making it an easy decision. Rehab is no longer possible.

With Cobb receiving the surgery now, the Rays ace will be prime for a return in late 2016. Choosing to rehabilitate would put that possibility far off.

Alex Cobb's final year of team control is 2017.

You can hear Cobb discuss the extent of his injury yesterday below: