Tazawa Done for the Season

Unfortunately, this is no April Fools joke. As reported last week by several sources, Junichi Tazawa was having elbow troubles. It was announced that Tazawa will have Tommy John surgery on Tuesday, shutting him down for at least a year. This is devastating news for the 23-year old Japanese pitcher who was hoping to get some time in the majors in 2010.

Tazawa was expected to begin the upcoming campaign in the minors, probably AAA, but given injuries, may have seen some significant playing time in the majors. The young righty made his major league debut last season in a difficult spot against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the 14th inning of a tie game. Tazawa was able to get Hideki Matsui to line-out to end the inning, but then surrendered a long 2-run walk-off bomb to Alex Rodriguez.

Tazawa finished his stint with the Red Sox in 2009 with a 2-3 record and an era of 7.46. Tazawa collected 13 Ks in 25.1 IP, but struggled with giving up the long ball, allowing 4 in 6 games. As he grows and develops as a player, Tazawa has the potential to spend some time in the majors and contribute, but that is now going to have to wait at least a year while he recovers from his upcoming surgery.

I wish Tazawa the best of luck with his surgery and hope he has a speedy recovery.