By C. Trent Rosecrans One of the few bright spots for the Dodgers this season was the emergence of rookie right-hander Rubby De La Rosa, a fireballing starter who was 4-5 with a 3.71 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings. So, in the spirit of 2011 for the Dodgers, there's bad news -- De La Rosa will have to undergo Tommy John surgery.
De La Rosa threw 103 pitches in four innings of Sunday's loss to the Diamondbacks and complained of a sharp pain in his elbow. An MRI on Monday revealed a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament, the team announced on Tuesday.
De La Rosa told the Los Angeles Times he was scared about undergoing surgery.
"Yeah, a little bit," he told the paper. "I've never been operated on."
The good news is that most pitchers can return to form after Tommy John surgery, the bad news is that it takes on average a year to return and longer to regain their pre-surgery form. Luckily, at 22, De La Rosa has time -- and it's not like the Dodgers are going anywhere.
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