Luke Hagerty Out For Season
Hagerty needs Tommy John surgery (Jim Callis, Baseball America, 4/2/2003)
Bad news for the Cubs and pitching prospect Luke Hagerty:
Promising lefthander Luke Hagerty learned [on Tuesday] that he has a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, which will require Tommy John surgery and cause him to miss the entire 2003 season.
Hagerty had experienced no physical problems during an impressive spring in minor league camp. Scouts from other clubs were raving about his 94-95 mph fastball and his improved slider, and wondered how he lasted until the 32nd overall pick in the 2002 draft. But while warming up for his final spring-training start on Friday, he threw a slider and felt a pop in his elbow.
The Cubs chose Hagerty in the first round of last year’s draft. In his last year at Ball State, Hagerty posted a 3.04 ERA in 83 innings. After being drafted by the Cubs, he pitched for Boise in short-season A-ball. He started 10 games at Boise, pitched 48 innings with a 1.13 ERA, and had a 50/15 K/BB ratio.
“Cubs farm director Oneri Fleita said the team hopes to have Hagerty back on a mound in spring training next year.”
While this is certainly disappointing, the Cubs do have pitching prospects coming out of the woodwork.
Thanks to Michael Caldwell for alerting me to this.