News Gets Worse For Tampa's Promising Young Starter

After a report on Thursday that the Tampa Bay Rays young starter Shane Baz would be shut down for four weeks, the news gets even worse today, as Tampa beat writer Marc Topkin reports.

#Rays Baz is expected to miss roughly 8 weeks in a best case scenario, and given that a “sprain” usually means there is a tear in a ligament it could be much longer. Luis Patino will fill in tonight vs. #Orioles https://t.co/voi9qjqM6M

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 15, 2022

Topkin now says that Baz is expected to miss at least 8 weeks "in a best case scenario." He also notes that an elbow "sprain" often indicates a tear in the ligament. If that's the case, we could be looking at Tommy John surgery, and in that case, Baz would likely miss all of 2023 as well. 

For now, he received an injection of "orthobiologics", which is designed to speed healing. If the elbow has healed sufficiently in four weeks, he'll go on a throwing program that would last another four weeks, leaving him with a mid-September return.

The Rays will activate Luis Patino for the first time since early April to take Friday's start. 

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