O'Rourke headed for TJ surgery; May progressing

ARLINGTON -- Relievers Ryan O'Rourke and Trevor May both saw Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday. O'Rourke got disappointing news -- the lefty will need to undergo Tommy John surgery -- while May had a positive post-op follow-up with the orthopedist who performed his Tommy John surgery in late March.
O'Rourke was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow a day after he was moved to the 60-day disabled list. He was originally diagnosed with a strained flexor mass but had not progressed much since that diagnosis late in Spring Training.
"We were all holding on to a little hope that he might get a couple options to how he should proceed instead of having to undergo the Tommy John procedure, but unfortunately didn't get that news," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We all kind of thought something was up by the fact that he just didn't show much improvement the last month since he came forward with the issues he was facing."
O'Rourke posted a 3.96 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 25 innings in 26 appearances last season for the Twins. He has a career 4.98 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 47 innings over the past two years. He'll likely be out a year or more following his upcoming surgery.
"Hopefully he's throwing the ball somewhat by next spring with the chance maybe to pitch somewhere early in the year," Molitor said. "You kind of gauge it at about a year, and it doesn't seem to vary too much from player to player on the fact that it's going to take that long a time."
As for May, his visit with Meister was planned weeks ago since the Twins would be in Texas at this time. May said the brief evaluation was encouraging.
"All the metrics and everything say I'm either right on track or maybe a little forward," May said. "I've had no pain, outside of the casual nature of surgery. It's still puffy and swelling, but I'm not going to be pitching in a game for a while, so we'll worry about that in 11 months. I'm happy with my progress."
May has been with the Twins since 2014 and is 13-17 with a 5.14 ERA and 214 strikeouts in 203 innings over the previous three seasons.