Rays expected to lose key starting pitcher to Tommy John surgery

The Tampa Bay Rays are off to one of the hottest starts in baseball, but they received some bad news on Tuesday that will take some of the wind out of their sails. 

The team announced that starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs is going on the IL with a left elbow flexor strain. 

Even worse, he is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. 

That surgery would come with a 12-15 month recovery period that would keep him out of the rotation until deep into the 2024 season. 

It is a huge blow to a Rays pitching staff that has been downright dominant through the first two weeks of the season. Springs has been especially strong through his first three starts. He had allowed just four hits in 16 innings while striking out 24 batters and walking only four. 

The 2022 season was his first year as a full-time starting pitcher and it was a breakout year for him, going 9-5 with a 2.46 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 135.1 innings pitched. 

The Rays were already without starters Tyler Glasnow and Zach Eflin, who recently went on the IL.

Losing Springs hurts, but once Glasnow and Eflin return, the Rays should still have one of the best rotations in baseball with Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen and the former leading the way. It would be a lot stronger with Springs in there, though, given the way he has pitched since the start of the 2022 campaign.