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Royals reliever Tim Collins could face Tommy John surgery

By Stanford Crissey

Oct 21, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Tim Collins throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the 7th inning during game one of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 21, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Tim Collins throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the 7th inning during game one of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /
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Royals reliever Tim Collins has a torn elbow ligament and could face Tommy John surgery.

The Tommy John epidemic may have claimed its first victim of the 2015 season.

Kansas City Royals reliever Tim Collins has a torn elbow ligament, and may need surgery, according to a tweet from the Kansas City Star’s Randy Covitz.

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Collins, 25, is an integral cog in a Royals bullpen that almost single-handedly led them to the World Series last season. Collins has a career 3.54 ERA in four seasons, and an average of 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings in that time. Collins struggled last season, pitching just 22 innings for the big league club, and missed the postseason run. Before that, he was one of the league’s better relievers for three years, and the team was hoping he could return to that role in 2015. Now that seems to be in doubt.

Whatever else Collins, who is generously listed at 5’7″, accomplishes on the field, he will probably remain best known for this photo:

That’s Collins and 5’11” teammate Everett Teaford, sharing space in the pants of the 6’11”, 300-pound Jonathan Broxton, and it is the greatest. Collins will have to pitch really, really well before that stops being the first thing people think of when they think of him.

But it may be a while before we see him pitch at all.

Tommy John surgery is seemingly growing more and more frequent among MLB pitchers, especially young pitchers. More than one story labeled the surgery as an “epidemic” last year. Between 2001 and 2011, MLB averaged 16 Tommy John surgeries a year; last year, that number was eclipsed by May. It’s unclear why the sudden increase in surgeries has occurred; teams are still learning what they can about prevention of the surgery, and most pitchers now come back well healed and can return to their previous levels of productivity. Still, until there’s a solution found, it seems that more and more young pitchers will be going under the knife.

It may be a while before we see Collins again (assuming he does undergo the surgery; he is awaiting a second opinion), and hopefully when we do, his elbow is healed and he can continue to be effective.

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