LSU junior right-hander Alden Cartwright will have Tommy John surgery to remedy a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and a partially torn muscle, Cartwright and LSU coach Paul Mainieri confirmed
Tuesday afternoon.
The reconstructive surgery, which will be done on April 13 by orthopedic surgeon Mark Field, will keep Cartwright out for the rest of the season and a portion of next season. While the recovery time varies among players, it usually takes roughly a year, or more.
However, because Cartwright’s injury occurred in the first half of the season and he had not played in more than 30 percent of the total 56 games on the schedule, he is eligible to receive a medical redshirt this season, as Mainieri confirmed.
Still, after finding out the news Tuesday afternoon, Mainieri could only empathize with Cartwright as his blooming third season abruptly ends.
“I walked in, and Alden was waiting for me in my office,” Mainieri said. “All I could do was hug him and just tell him how sorry I was for his sake … his career is not over. He’ll still be able to contribute to LSU baseball. It’s just everything is going to be delayed a little bit.”
Cartwright said his arm began to ache even before he threw the fourth pitch of his outing in Game 3 against Auburn on April 3.
“It was hurting every pitch,” he said. “I was planning on coming out after that inning anyway. It was something different, not a normal hurt. And then on that fourth pitch, I felt it pop, felt a burning sensation in my elbow, and I knew it was done.”
Latz “looked good” against live hitters.
Despite the unsettling news of Cartwright’s season-ending injury, Mainieri “couldn’t contain his enthusiasm” after redshirt freshman lefty Jake Latz completed two 15-pitch innings against live hitters in practice on Wednesday.
Latz, who has not appeared in a game as a Tiger, has been steadily recovering from surgery on his throwing elbow in the fall and is targeting an appearance in one of two midweek games against McNeese State and Grambling next week.
“His velocity is good — 88-90 miles per hour,” Mainieri said. “He maintained it. His fastball command was pretty good. He threw some really good changeups … He didn’t quite have a great feel for [his curveball]. That’s usually the last thing to come. When I talked to him after he threw, that was the least of his worries.”
“I don’t think it could have gone any better, quite frankly. The whole key is how does he feel [Thursday].”
After a long road for Latz to get back on the mound, the former Illinois High School Player of the Year is starting to feel like his old self again, he said.
“It just felt normal to get back out there again,” Latz said. “I didn’t have any doubts or second thoughts. It just kind of came secondhand to me.”