Alabama Ace Connor Prielipp Facing Tommy John Surgery
Alabama sophomore pitcher and Preseason First Team All-American Connor Prielipp will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the baseball season and the entire 2022 season according to D1 Baseball's Kendall Rogers. Prielipp only appeared in three games in 2021 for Alabama, leaving a big hole in the Crimson Tide's rotation this year.
The sophomore was the opening day starter for Alabama and gave the Tide five innings of shutout work with eight strikeouts. He gave up four hits in the 10-6 win for his only win of the season.
Dr. Lyle Cain from Andrews Sports Medicine will perform the surgery tomorrow. Prielipp is considered by D1 Baseball as the No. 1 MLB prospect in the 2022 class but was unable to be a major contributor for the Crimson Tide in 2021 due to nagging injury.
Prielipp made two other appearances for the Crimson Tide, he was able to give Alabama one inning as a starter in the Auburn and LSU series. In the two innings of SEC play he gave up four hits and three runs while striking out four and walking one.
The sophomore will still likely be drafted very high in the upcoming MLB Draft but his next challenge will be recovery from a challenging elbow injury. Tommy John surgery is the reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, it was devised in 1974 by Frank Jobe and named for the first major league pitcher to undergo the procedure. Full recovery generally takes seven to nine months and pitchers are usually ready to return to action between 10 and 18 months post-op.
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