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A little over a year after deciding to undergo Tommy John surgery after tearing the UCL in his right elbow, Blue Jays pitching prospect Robert Osuna will make his return to live games Tuesday as a starter for the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays, according to the man himself.
Almost the day !!! Haha ready for tomorrow first start since the last year .. #roadtotheshow tj
— Roberto Osuna (@RobertoOsuna1) July 7, 2014
@Minor_Leaguer yeap ! You're right
— Roberto Osuna (@RobertoOsuna1) July 7, 2014
His return on July 8 is almost exactly a year to the day of his last outing with the Lansing Lugnuts last season. The tear was discovered after his start on April 30 last year, but he and the Blue Jays decided to see if Tommy John could be avoided. After a "shutdown" period, Osuna returned to Lansing in early June and made five more starts before shutting down for the season after a 10-hit, seven-run outing in which he only retired five batters.
Osuna is just 19-years-old (he was born during the players' strike!) and even though he will just be rehabbing in the GCL, he will still be a full year younger than the average age of that rookie-level league. One would expect that good results from his stint in the Englebert Complex will earn him a return to Lansing (where the average age is 22).
Other Prospect Happenings
These are exciting times down in Dunedin. Baseball Prospectus's Chris King reports that first-round draft pick Max Pentecost will be behind the plate and batting third for the GCL Blue Jays tonight.
Max Pentecost is in tonights lineup catching and batting 3rd for the GCL #BlueJays
— Chris King (@StatsKing) July 7, 2014
The weekly Blue Jays prospect podcast, Around The Nest, can now be found on Youtube with direct links to each level's broadcaster! Catch last Friday's episode below. If you prefer to download the MP3 of the broadcast, head over to their Soundcloud page.
You wouldn't want to miss the interview with Sal Fasano, who discusses various catchers in the Blue Jays system and what is expected for catchers at each level of development.
Aaron Sanchez and Dan Norris appeared on top prospects lists and Scott C has the story here.