Padres LHP Robbie Erlin must undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season

The Padres have announced that left-handed pitcher Robbie Erlin will have to undergo Tommy John surgery after an MRI revealed a tear in his left UCL. He'll miss the rest of 2016 and likely some of the 2017 season. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune broke the news on Twitter this afternoon and shortly afterwards, the team confirmed it.

Erlin was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 21st due to what was described at the time as forearm tightness. This was less than two weeks after Erlin joined the big league club from Triple-A El Paso, as a result of relief pitcher Matt Thornton hitting the DL with a left achilles injury. Shortly after Erlin was moved to the 25-man roster, he got the call to join the rotation after injury took Opening Day starter Tyson Ross (who still remains on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation).

Erlin was impressive during Spring Training this year, but fell just short of making the Major League roster to start the season, initially losing out on a rotation spot to Colin Rea and Drew Pomeranz. In his three outings (two starts) for the Padres this season he allowed a combined seven runs through 15 2/3 innings. But six of those runs came against the Diamondbacks in his most recent appearance, in which he saw a big drop in his pitch velocity.

This was Erlin's fifth season with the Padres after he was acquired from the Rangers in the 2012 Mike Adams trade. Including time spent on the disabled list, he's accumulated just over two years of service time.

There has been no word yet on any corresponding roster moves, but we'll be sure to update here with any announcements.