The Twitter feed for DPLBaseball tweeted last night that Rangers righthanded pitching prospect David Perez has undergone Tommy John surgery.
Perez, 19 years old, was #10 on the LSB Community Prospect Rankings last offseason. The 6'5", 200 lb. righty is considered a raw, high-ceiling prospect who can throw in the upper-90s. After impressing in the Dominican Summer League in 2010, Perez went to the Northwest League in 2011, but struggled against what was generally much older competition. Perez had only pitched 9 innings in 2012, and the surgery will sideline him for the rest of 2012 and most of 2013.
Tommy John surgery isn't a death knell for a pitching prospect -- numerous successful pitchers have undergone the procedure at a young age and recovered from it -- but it also isn't an absolute given that a pitcher will get all the way back after undergoing the surgery. It will probably be 2014 before we have a good handle on whether Perez will be able to re-establish himself as one of the Rangers' most exciting pitching prospects.
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 17 | Rangers | DOSL | FRk | TEX | 4 | 4 | .500 | 1.41 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70.0 | 50 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 68 |
2011 | 18 | Spokane | NORW | A- | TEX | 1 | 4 | .200 | 8.60 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30.1 | 25 | 29 | 29 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 43 |
2012 | 19 | Spokane | NORW | A- | TEX | 1 | 1 | .500 | 13.00 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
3 Seasons | 6 | 9 | .400 | 4.36 | 30 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109.1 | 87 | 62 | 53 | 3 | 48 | 0 | 122 | |||||
A- (2 seasons) | A- | 2 | 5 | .286 | 9.61 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.1 | 37 | 42 | 42 | 3 | 40 | 0 | 54 | ||||
FRk (1 season) | FRk | 4 | 4 | .500 | 1.41 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70.0 | 50 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 68 |