Cody Anderson has a sprained UCL

Cody Anderson sustained a UCL sprain in his throwing arm, according to the Cleveland Indians.

Anderson is not currently throwing, and will spend the next couple of days to determine appropriate next steps for rehabilitation. He experienced a new onset of symptoms after being shut down during a March 8 spring training start. The club reiterated its commitment to completing “medical due diligence” while considering treatment options.

Anderson stoked the excitement of many Indians fans with his emergence in the second half of 2015, throwing 91.1 innings with a WHIP of 1.11. Since then, he’s been unable to sustain success. An inability to miss bats plagued his 2016 campaign. With a WHIP above 1.6 and a Deserved Run Average climbing above 6, the Indians removed Anderson from the starting rotation and re-inserted Trevor Bauer.

Some wondered if Anderson’s clock struck midnight in 2016, turning all of his pitches into pumpkins. In hindsight, the elbow soreness Anderson battled through in the beginning of 2016 suggests a lingering injury that limited his effectiveness. In November, Anderson underwent arthroscopic debridement to alleviate the soreness. The MRI indicates that the injury is more severe than anticipated, and a career once ripe with potential is at risk of shriveling on the vine.

If anyone has a secret plan to stop UCL’s from breaking or to quickly rehabilitate them, now would be a great time to crawl out of your basement laboratory and tell the world.