San Diego Padres’ Dinelson Lamet to Undergo TJ Surgery

In a knee-wobbling blow, the San Diego Padres announced today that the de facto ace of their pitching staff will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of this season.

Dinelson Lamet, regarded by some as the best pitcher on the San Diego Padres coming into the season, will have Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Lamet, injured in the Friars’ Cactus League finale, tried to work through the issue, as per Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

"“An initial examination of Lamet’s arm indicated he had no structural damage, but an MRI taken in the ensuing days revealed a tear significant enough to require surgery.At that time, Lamet sought a second opinion, which confirmed that diagnosis.”Kevin Acee, SDU-T, 4/13/2018"

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Padres let Lamet come to his own conclusions

According to Padres’ manager Andy Green, the team worked with Lamet to try to decipher the problem as opposed to immediately opting for surgery.

From Acee’s article, “As an organization, you don’t get to dictate to a player to go have surgery. You partner with your player.”

“You advise them. You let doctors talk to them. All that happened all the way through. The process took a couple of weeks.”

Green continued, “I think that gives him the peace of mind he is doing the right thing…It’s disappointing, to say the least, but we wanted to walk alongside him throughout – not dictate, not tell him what to do – and wait for him to get there. He’s at that place now.”

Powerful stuff. Having to tell a budding star that he has a career-altering injury and that he will need to take a year, at least, off from the game to recover, could be more damaging to a young player’s psyche than it is to his physical well-being.

Next: Padres Hope to Turn Things Around Tonight

For Green to let the player come to his own conclusion, at his own pace, is one of the most stand-up, we’ve-got-your-back type of gestures I’ve ever seen in professional sports, and incredibly refreshing.