You thought things were going to get better?

Ow.  Ow.  Ow.

2012 just got a lot scarier.  Rubby De La Rosa, one of the most exciting (read: only) pleasant surprises of the year, has a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and is done for the season, if not longer.  If he does have to undergo Tommy John surgery, which is expected at this point, we won't see him back in the rotation until September of next year at the earliest, but it's more likely 2013 would be the target at this point.  There's a small chance that he won't have to undergo the procedure, but we don't recommend holding your breath.  John Ely has been called up to take his place for the foreseeable future while a course of action is determined.

This is a huge blow, on a lot of different levels.  Rubby was outperforming pretty much everyone's expectations of him this season-  he was averaging a strikeout per inning in the majors, and opponents were hitting just .244 against him.  Sure, his control wasn't perfect, but for a 23 year old that throws 100mph, you can't expect pinpoint control.  Of course, those shiny 100mph fastballs have their price, and it looks like the bill just came due.

What does this all mean?  Well, if Tommy John surgery is necessary, the team's rotation- one of the only areas where it seemed fairly well-off going into next year- becomes a big question mark.  Assuming he's gone, next year's rotation now reads as Kershaw/Billingsley/Lilly/Ely/?. It certainly helps the odds of Hiroki Kuroda returning to the team, if he decides to stay in the US.  And with a strong spring training, you could easily see the team rolling the dice on Zach Lee or Nate Eovaldi sneaking on in place of Ely.  With all the holes in the lineup next year, and all the uncertainty with the team's payroll and financial obligations (not to mention the weak FA pitching market), crossing our fingers for the next batch of prospects to mature may be the best bet we have to replace RDLR's quality innings next season.

That said, with a healthy RDLR back and ready to go, 2013's rotation is STACKED.  Kershaw/Bills/RDLR/Z. Lee/Lilly is pretty filthy, and hopefully by that point one of our other pitchers will have developed enough to push Lilly out entirely.  Proven Veteran Leaders- always looking on the bright side of things.