As a large handful of pitchers are about to find out, the road to recovery from Tommy John surgery is not easy and not always a clean and clear path.
The Atlanta Braves’ Jonny Venters is finding that out, too, and he’s trying to come back from his second Tommy John surgery. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that Venters threw a 15-pitch bullpen session off of a mound on Sunday and came away from it feeling soreness in his elbow. The idea now is for the 29-year old lefty to rest before starting to throw again.
Obviously, when talking about recovery from elbow surgery, especially a second one, any talk of a sore elbow is bothersome. Team doctors, however have said that there is no structural damage with Venters’ elbow and that the discomfort is more than likely a sign of scar tissue build up that is affecting his flexor tendon.
Jonny Venters was a 30th round pick for the Atlanta Braves in 2003 and made his Major League debut seven years later. He was an All-Star in 2011, a season in which he was outstanding for the Braves. As a reliever, Venters compiled a 6-2 record with an outstanding 1.84 in a league-leading 85 appearances totaling 88 innings. His first Tommy John surgery came as a minor league player in 2005. He had his season cut short in 2012 due to left elbow soreness, and after an attempt at Platelet-Rich-Plasma injection therapy, he underwent his second Tommy John surgery in May of 2012. That eliminated him from his role as Craig Kimbrel’s set up man. While there is no planned timetable for Venters to return, this slight setback could put him out until September, if not for the rest of the year.