Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow last week, and will be sideline until sometime in May, according to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Hellickson, the 2011 American League Rookie of the Year, had his worst season in 2013. In 31 starts, he pitched to a 5.17 ERA and 4.22 FIP, and his fastball velocity dropped a full mile to 90.5.
It was a far cry from the past two seasons in which Hellickson managed ERAs of 2.95, and 3.10 despite peripherals that suggested his ERA should be in the 4.50 range. For his career, he has a 3.70 ERA and a 4.39 FIP. After two seasons with strand rates above 80 percent, and a BABIP far below the league average, he was hurt by a low 66.2 percent strand rate and a .307 BABIP.
The injury to Hellickson may make a David Price trade, which was already appearing unlikely, even more so. With the loss of Hellickson for the first 6-8 weeks of the season, there’s not much in the way of rotation depth as things stand. A trade of Price would place them in a more precarious situation, unless it brought back major league-ready talent that the Rays didn’t stash in the minors past the Super Two deadline. Hellickson himself had been mentioned in trade rumors this offseason, but surgery probably eliminates what was already a long shot.
Perhaps this means that the Rays will pursue free agent pitcher A.J. Burnett more aggressively. He’s a long shot for the budget-conscious Rays, and it’s unclear if he wants to leave Pittsburgh yet, but it would be a major coup for the team.
It’s more likely that the Rays will enter the 2014 season with their current cast, though a surprise move remains within the realm of possibilities.
