Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull, already on the 60-day injured list, will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the majority — if not all — of the 2022 season.
Turnbull has been sidelined with a forearm strain following his last start on June 4. The Tigers transferred him to the 60-day IL on July 7.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said tests revealed chronic damage in Turnbull’s elbow. The typical timetable for return from TJ surgery is 12-18 months.
“It wasn’t a singular event,” manager AJ Hinch said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Texas Rangers. “Usually when you see a guy walk off the mound and he’s in a ton of pain, there’s this obvious injury. He had a little bit of soreness when we put him on the injured list to begin with. It wasn’t the UCL, so we didn’t really know what the extent of it was. When he came back and threw, it revealed itself as more and more inflammation, and the damage that was done to the UCL over time was enough to warrant the surgery.”
Turnbull, 28, is in his fourth season with Detroit and was 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA. In nine starts, he struck out 44 batters and walked 12 over 50 innings.
On May 18, Turnbull no-hit the Mariners in Seattle in a 5-0 win.
In his career, Turnbull has an 11-25 record and a 4.25 ERA. That includes a 3-17 record (4.61 ERA) in 2019.