Torn Ligament for Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg is the biggest phenomenon on Nationals history.

It was pretty much the worst thing that they could imagine. The Washington Nationals have seemingly rushed the devlopment of Stephen Strasburg, and it has resulted in a torn ligament. So he'll just come back at full strength next year, right? Well, it's a torn ulnar collateral ligament that will likely require Tommy John surgery. That's right -- Tommy John surgery.

For those of you who don't know, Tommy John surgery is a process to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament, located in the elbow. That ligament is removed and replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body. Back when Tommy John had the first surgery on this in 1976, doctors put the chances of a full recovery at 1%. Now, those estimates are up to 85-92% for Tommy John patients, but that's still, not a great percentage given the investment Washington has in Strasburg. Additionally, it usually takes a full year for a pitcher to be back to full strength, so Strasburg will likely miss most of next season to go through rehab.

It isn't always bad, though. Some pitchers have had the surgery, recovered fully, and even come back a little stronger. Will that be the case with Strasburg? I know one team that sure hopes so -- otherwise, their multi-million dollar investment and the face of their future will starting to turn belly-up.