Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jason Motte’s Tommy John Surgery was a success on Tuesday. Dr. George Paletta performed the procedure at St. Louis’ Mercy Hospital.
Motte was placed on the disabled list on Mar. 29 with an elbow strain. At the time, the Cardinals were hoping that the injury was not serious and that the right-hander would be able to return at some point in 2013. Unfortunately, standard rehabilitation was not going to get the job done. Instead, St. Louis and Motte agreed that surgery was the only way for his arm to be repaired properly.
Motte tweeted the following after he was finished with the procedure:
“Tommy John went well. One day closer to getting back out there then yesterday.”
The 30-year-old is a huge loss for the Cardinals after the team hoped that he would be able to build off of his successful 2012 season. Motte posted a 4-5 record with a 2.75 earned run average, a career-high 42 saves in 49 opportunities and 86 strikeouts in 72 innings. It is certainly a tough pill to swallow for both parties, but Motte will just have to focus on his rehabilitation if he wants to be a factor in 2014.
Last year was the first time in Motte’s five-year career that he was given the full-time closer role. He did record nine saves towards the end of 2011, but he was more used as the setup man in the beginning of the season. In fact, he posted 18 holds and a 2.25 ERA in 78 appearances. With that being said, Motte was outstanding in the Cardinals’ World Series run. He went 0-1 with a 2.19 ERA, eight strikeouts and five saves in five opportunities in 12 1/3 innings.
Overall, Motte has been outstanding ever since he was called up by St. Louis in 2008. He is 17-13 with a 2.87 ERA, 273 strikeouts, 54 saves and 49 holds in 282 career appearances.
Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
