As more and more players hit the disabled list each year, recent medical procedures involving two pitchers offer a window into a future of reduced healing time.
Seth Maness, a free agent who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Red Sox left-hander Drew Pomeranz both received somewhat experimental treatment within the past several months. Pomeranz told reporters this weekend at the Red Sox’s winter fan fest that he received a stem-cell injection in his left elbow to address minor pain from the second half of the season. Maness had a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow repaired not with the traditional Tommy John surgery but a newer “primary repair,” according to the St.