Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that scouts from 16 teams including the Cubs, Nationals and Royals attended Seth Maness’ showcase Monday in St. Louis.
This is not exactly gigantic news in and of itself, but Maness’ progress is worth following. As Goold reported last month, Maness is the first recipient of an alternative to Tommy John surgery known as “primary repair.” Rather than reconstructing the entire ligament, as in TJ surgery, primary repair reinforces it at the bone. If the recovery goes as doctors plan, it is supposed cut at least five months off of the typical Tommy John recovery time. Maness had the surgery on August 18 and is throwing for scouts in February.
Signing him may not make a bad team good or a borderline team a contender, but it will certainly mean something for the progress of pitchers overall.
