Arodys Vizcaino suffering elbow inflammation

*Update*
According to Mark Bowman, Vizcaino had a partial ligament tear in his elbow back in 2010. At first it seemed he would need Tommy John surgery but after resting for a while, the club/Vizcaino decided he didn’t need it. That decision may prove costly now.

It seems we are constantly dealing with injuries in Braves world but usually it is with the older guys or Jair Jurrjens. Apparently Arodys Vizcaino has been having pain in his elbow and an MRI shows some inflammation:

"Arodys Vizcaino has not pitched since Sunday because of discomfort in his right elbow.  An MRI exam showed inflammation around the elbow.  The 21-year-old reliever will rest a few more days before being reevaluated.  But for now, the team does not seem too concerned."

Back in 2010 Vizcaino had a similar issue with his elbow, and as Nathanial Stoltz (@stoltz_baseball) pointed out it is “quite believable given size and torque in the motion.”

Nathanial is right on the money on this one. Check this video out to see for yourself. He does have a strange arm slot, and with the velocity he throws at (mid to upper 90’s) no wonder he is having problems. Also check out this wonderful home-made video of Viz making Bryce Harper look really dumb.

I am not sure how the Braves can be “not too concerned” about this. It is his second issue with the elbow and he is supposed to be an important piece in the bullpen this year. He has the potential to hang with The Untouchables–Kimbrel, Venters, and O’Flaherty–and give the team some innings in high-leverage situations. The bullpen will still be good if he isn’t there for a period of time, but it might not be the elite force we thought it to be. Medlen will still be there to give us some innnings, and we have a lot of interesting young options but  none of them were ever the second ranked starting pitcher in the organization like Arodys was.

Stay tuned for more information as it comes out.