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The Atlanta Braves have a bevy of young arms in the minor league system but, on Tuesday, word broke that one of them will be out of commission for quite some time. Right-hander Patrick Weigel, who has been battling an elbow issue, broke the news that he underwent Tommy John surgery.
Today, after much deliberation, had TommyJohn surgery. I want to thank everyone who has reached out and encouraged/supported me #2019ready
— Patrick Weigel (@Pwags42) June 27, 2017
It was later reported that Weigel’s procedure was executed by prominent physical Dr. James Andrews.
#Braves prospect Patrick Weigel had Tommy John surgery Tuesday, as expected. Dr. Andrews did the procedure.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) June 28, 2017
Weigel sports a 4.14 ERA during the 2017 season across work at both double-A Mississippi and triple-A Gwinnett and he was the 2016 Minor League Pitcher of the year for Atlanta. However, he allowed nine earned runs in his final outing and reports circulated that there were velocity issues that seemingly stemmed from elbow instability.
Though Weigel is not consistently mentioned with the uber-elite arms in Atlanta’s system, he is certainly a prospect to keep an eye on and this is a brutal blow. With that said, the return rate from Tommy John is always increasing as science improves and, at the age of 22, there is plenty of time for Weigel to rehabilitate and come back at full strength.
Stay tuned.