Padres injury update: Anderson Espinoza has a torn UCL, will have Tommy John surgery

It’s been a little more than a year since the Padres acquired Anderson Espinoza from the Boston Red Sox for Drew Pomeranz, and in that time he has played in just eight games for the Fort Wayne Tincaps. Those games were all last season. Espinoza has only thrown sporadically since he developed forearm tightness this spring, and now we finally know why. Like so many pitching prospects in the San Diego farm system, Espinoza’s elbow blew the hell up.

Espinoza came to San Diego in one of the transactions at last year’s deadline that got general manager A.J. Preller suspended for 30 days, and Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski took plenty of fire from fans for not backing out of the deal when MLB gave him the opportunity. Dombrowski may look like the winner here, but Espinoza is just 19 years old and could still prove a valuable asset for the Friars after he recovers.