Cla Meredith had bone chips removed from his elbow during the offseason and it took just 20 throws for his arm to start barking again this spring, but unfortunately the injury is more serious this time around.
Today the Nationals announced that Meredith, who was competing for a middle relief job on a minor-league contract, will miss the entire season following Tommy John surgery.
Meredith had a very nice three-and-a-half-season run with the Padres, posting a 3.26 ERA in 237 innings, but the right-handed ground-baller saw his performance dip after joining the Orioles in mid-2009 and spent much of last season in the minors.
He’s still just 28 years old, so there’s plenty of time for Meredith to make a full recovery, but as a side-armer with a mid-80s fastball he didn’t have a ton of margin for error even before going under the knife.