One of the Padres best young pitchers in 2011, Cory Luebke, will miss a second consecutive season because doctors have determined that he'll need another Tommy John surgery. I'm racking my brain, but I think this will make Luebke the first Padres pitcher to need the surgery twice.
Padres left-hander Cory Luebke to miss second straight season with elbow injury | padres.com: News
Luebke, 28, had an MRI on Friday that showed a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.
"I feel bad for him … from 2011 through the first part of 2012, he was certainly on his way," said Padres general manager Josh Byrnes. "This is a real setback. There's been a lot of missed time. Hopefully in a year or so, he can get back to being Cory Luebke.
"This whole thing has been a mystery."
Doctors suspected he'd need his first TJ surgery in May of 2012 due to discomfort in his throwing elbow. He eventually went under the knife at the end of the same month when an MRI showed significant damage.
The summer of 2013 brought news of Luebke's rehab schedule being pushed back. Where once he was supposed to return in August, he would instead miss the whole season.
In September it was reported by Mighty 1090's Coach Kentera that Luebke had a setback that would necessitate another surgery. When I talked to GM Josh Byrnes about Luebke he didn't want to speculate on surgery but admitted that Luebke was experiencing pain again.
Then in November we heard good news, Luebke had progressed and thrown 25 pitches off the mound pain free, bringing hope that he'd start the 2014 season in the bullpen. Now that won't happen.
#Padres Luebke on having his second TJ surgery: "We're not going to wait around too long, what's done is done."
— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) February 5, 2014When Luebke first tore UCL, #Padres were stunned. Their best guess to the cause was extra adrenaline in early season start vs. #Phillies.
— Tom Krasovic (@UTkrasovic) February 5, 2014