Braves’ Jacob Lindgren underwent second Tommy John surgery yesterday

Sometimes, sports just is not fair.

When the Braves’ signed reliever Jacob Lindgren after his stint with the Yankees, it was seen as a potential fresh start for a very live arm. Lindgren had some pretty poor luck on the arm health front as he had surgery in 2015 for a bone spur in his throwing elbow and then had to undergo Tommy John surgery in August 2016 after missing most of that season with elbow ailments.

The word coming into spring training was that he was on the right path and had gotten healthy again and more than a few people were excited about the prospect of having him potentially in the major league bullpen sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, after there were rumors that he had suffered a setback this spring, it is now clear that we are going to have to wait a long time to see him pitch in real games for the Braves if it happens at all.

While the track record for one-time Tommy John surgeries is pretty good these days, the track record for multiple TJS is a bit tougher. Hopefully Lindgren can come back and make it to the majors, but he will be facing some tough odds.

The lefty reliever was drafted out of Mississippi State in the 2nd round of the 2014 draft. Lindgren has a career 1.83 ERA in the minors (40 appearances) while holding a 5.17 ERA in seven appearances in the majors (all with the Yankees in 2015).