Pirates No. 6 Prospect Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - On the disabled list (elbow) since May 8, the Pirates have announced that number six prospect pitcher Nick Kingham has undergone Tommy John surgery and will miss 12-18 months.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pirates beat writer Bill Brink reports that Kingham had the surgery performed by the same surgeon that worked on another Pirates top prospect.
Kingham was viewed as the next big prospect ready to come to the majors for the Pirates and the news of his Tommy John surgery certainly hurts the team's starting pitching depth.
Kingham had made six starts this year for Triple-A Indianapolis throwing 31 1-3 innings and racking up an ERA of 4.31, a number that is slightly inflated given his struggles pitching through the elbow discomfort before being placed on the disabled list.
Aside from Kingham, the Pirates available depth at the Triple-A level consists of Casey Sadler, Clayton Richard, Wilfredo Boscan, Adrian Sampson Volstad.
Kingham is the second Pirates prospect to undergo Tommy John surgery this year as the team already lost Triple-A pitcher Brandon Cumpton for the season.
