North Carolina pitcher Gianluca Dalatri considers himself lucky, knowing he could have been out 12 months, not 12 weeks.
When the elbow on Dalatri’s right, throwing arm was aching in February, an immediate fear was it might be a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament. That would mean one thing: Tommy John surgery, with a recovery time of a year.
Tyler Holton of Florida State and Steven Gingery of Texas Tech both played with Dalatri on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer. Both star left-handers suffered UCL tears early this season and underwent Tommy John surgery, their seasons done.