Detroit — The Tigers aren’t putting a projected timetable on Tarik Skubal’s return this season. But one seasoned orthopaedic surgeon believes if everything goes well for Skubal and the Tigers, the two-time reigning Cy Young winner could be back on the mound before the end of August.
Question is, will the Tigers still be in serious contention for a third straight trip to the playoffs at that point?
Skubal was placed on the injured list before his scheduled start against the Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park on Monday, diagnosed with loose bodies in his pitching (left) elbow. He will have surgery to remove those loose bodies, which are small fragments of cartilage and bone.
The surgery is minimally invasive and the surgery you want to get if you have to have elbow surgery, said Dr. Kevin Farmer, chief of sports medicine and an orthopaedic surgeon at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine.
“It’s probably one of the better ones (surgeries) to have in the shorter term … take out the pieces, do a little cleanup,” Farmer told The News on Monday night. “Short-term, you can bounce back relatively quickly.
“The longer-term issue is kind of the bigger question. … It’s a sign of some wear and tear.”
Farmer said the surgery Skubal will undergo typically lasts less than an hour.
Farmer said Skubal then likely will need between six and eight weeks of physical therapy and rehab to allow the swelling to go down from the small incisions, and to get the range of motion back. That, Farmer said, is typically followed by several more weeks — perhaps another stretch of six to eight — of throwing and strength buildup before he’ll be ready to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation.
On the short end, that would put Skubal on track to possibly return at the beginning of August under the best-case scenario and at the end of August or beginning of September should the recovery be slower.
“Everybody’s different, obviously,” Farmer said.
Skubal, 29, already has had two major surgeries, including Tommy John surgery in college and flexor-tendon surgery in 2022. Farmer said it’s not uncommon for pitchers who’ve had previous elbow surgeries to have complications with loose bodies later on, though it’s not necessarily a direct result of previous surgeries.
Skubal told reporters Monday he has been dealing with the issue throughout this season. It first was noticeable to fans in his last start, Wednesday, April 29, in Atlanta, when after throwing a pitch, he shook his arm and was checked out by the Tigers trainers. He stayed in that game and ended up striking out the side.
Farmer said it’s not uncommon for pitchers to work through loose bodies for a long time with no issues, without any symptoms. The loose bodies often start out as small flakes, Farmer said, and grow over time. One motion can cause them to suddenly become symptomatic, likely the result of a piece of cartilage or bone getting lodged in a joint. Farmer likened the feeling to getting a pebble stuck in your shoe — not the end of world, but plenty uncomfortable, especially if you don’t take out the pebble.
“He’s probably had these and didn’t know he had these,” Farmer said.
It wasn’t immediately clear Monday when Skubal will have the surgery, but Farmer said it would be unusual if the surgeon finds additional complications once getting inside that left elbow. He said the MRI should give the surgeon a very specific idea of what’s there, and what needs to be cleaned up.
Skubal, 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 43.1 innings over seven starts this season, is in the final year of his contract, having won a record $32 million in arbitration this offseason. Projections had him getting a historic free-agent contract between $400 million and $500 million this offseason.
With one stunning announcement Monday at Comerica Park, everything’s suddenly up in the air, short-term and long-term, for the Tigers and for Skubal.
“That (Skubal’s long-term health) will be a more difficult question for teams (this winter),” Farmer said.
Skubal is the latest big-named pitcher to need this kind of surgery, joining the likes of Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz, New York Yankees starter Carlos Rodon and Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Orthopaedic surgeon gives best guess on return for Tigers ace Tarik Skubal
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
