After such a high for the Chicago White Sox following the Jose Quintana trade, there is some bad news for one of their young and promising prospects. According to Jeff Passan, right-handed pitcher Zack Burdi needs Tommy John surgery.
The 22-year-old was a first-round draft pick of the White Sox in 2016.
Sources: Hard-throwing White Sox RP Zack Burdi needs Tommy John surgery. Best-case scenario is back late 2018, but may not pitch until 2019.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 14, 2017
Burdi is ranked as the No. 10 prospect in the White Sox minor league system.
He will get a second opinion before going through the surgery.
If Burdi indeed needs Tommy John, the White Sox would expect him back in spring training 2019.
— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) July 14, 2017
It’s been a tough year for the Burdi brothers.
Burdi's brother Nick, a pitching prospect in the Twins organization, had Tommy John surgery in late May. Rough year to be a Burdi brother.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 14, 2017
Obviously this is terrible news, but it’s not the end of the world. Plenty of pitchers have come back from Tommy John surgery and have been completely fine and sometimes even better. Right now, you just hope the main negative coming from the situation is that Burdi’s development is slowed down.
