Tommy John surgery likely for White Sox pitching prospect Burdi
The Chicago White Sox added four more prospects Thursday after trading top starter Jose Quintana to the Chicago Cubs.
As Friday's bad news concerning Zack Burdi painfully showed, rebuilding teams can never stockpile too much young talent.
The No. 26 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Burdi was in Chicago Friday to have his throwing (right) elbow examined. He was removed from a Class AAA Charlotte game on Sunday after experiencing discomfort.
"Unfortunately, the early prognosis is that he does have a ligament tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and will likely need Tommy John surgery," Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "He's headed to see Dr. (James) Andrews at some point early next week for confirmation of that prognosis, but there's a decent chance that's where this is headed.
"Assuming that is the case, with the normal surgery and the normal recovery period, it would look like Zack would likely be ready to rejoin us come spring training of 2019. Obviously it's unfortunate, it's a difficult development certainly for Zack and for everyone playing a part in his development."
A Downers Grove native, Burdi was 0-4 with a 4.05 ERA and 7 saves in 29 appearances with Charlotte this season.
In last month's draft, the White Sox took Lincoln Henzman on the fourth round, Tyler Johnson on the fifth round and Kade McClure on the sixth round. Like Burdi, all three have the potential to close games.
"Part of what we're trying to accomplish here is accumulate as much talent as possible knowing that things happen," Hahn said. "Players get hurt, some guys don't develop quite as quickly or as well as you anticipate, and fortunately at the other end of the spectrum you get some pleasant surprises. So one way to insulate yourself against the unpleasant surprises is having a critical mass of options in the system and that's what we're trying to accomplish."
It has been a tough year for the Burdis. Earlier this season, Burdi's brother Nick, a top pitching prospect for the Minnesota Twins, also had Tommy John surgery.