Duke Welker has been on the disabled list in Indianapolis since May 5th, and today he had this tweet:
https://twitter.com/The5thWelker/status/474562168525185024
James Andrews. New elbow. I haven’t received word that Welker was having Tommy John, but that appears to be the case. Welker will be the third Pirates pitching prospect undergoing Tommy John surgery this season, following Jameson Taillon and Clay Holmes.
This also continues the trend of hard throwers having Tommy John surgery. Welker barely pitched last year in the majors, but in his very brief time he had the 8th highest average velocity in the majors. His 97 MPH average is normal when he’s healthy. This year has seen a lot of hard throwers going down with elbow injuries, which has in turn raised questions about the value and risk of hard throwers.
