In a season where next to nothing has gone right for the Toronto Blue Jays, they will be holding their breath once again as top pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann is set to see a pair of specialists for his elbow.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, manager John Schneider said that Tiedemann will be visiting Dr. Keith Meister and Dr. Neal ElAttrache later this week to get a second and third opinion on his pitching arm.
Dr. Meister and Dr. ElAttrache are two of the most sought-after orthopedic surgeons in baseball.
Tiedemann originally hit the injured list in mid-April with ulnar nerve inflammation after making three starts for triple-A Buffalo.
But after completing his rehab in the lower minors, the 21-year-old was forced to leave his first appearance back with the Bisons early due to forearm tighness. That outing came on July 10 and saw the hard-throwing lefty toss 27 pitches in 1.0 inning of work. He allowed one run and one hit and walked three before coming out of the game.
This season with Buffalo, Tiedemann has a 6.00 ERA over 9.0 innings with 11 strikeouts and 12 walks.
In 2023, Tiedemann threw 44 innings across four minor-league levels and the Arizona Fall League (AFL). He finished the MiLB season with a 3.68 ERA, 82 strikeouts and 23 walks.