After receiving a second opinion, Oakland Athletics right-hander Daulton Jefferies is scheduled to undergo thoracic outlet surgery on Monday, per Matt Kawahara of The San Francisco Chronicle.
Oakland will share more details about Jefferies’ recovery timetable after the surgery is completed.
The surgery decision comes after the 26-year-old Jefferies was placed on the 10-day injured list a few weeks ago. A subsequent move to the 60-day IL largely dashed any chance that the right-handed pitcher would return to the mound soon.
For the time being, the A’s appear set to roll with a rotation headed by Frankie Montas, Cole Irvin and Paul Blackburn who are all off to strong starts this season. James Kaprielian and Jared Koenig, who was called up this past Sunday, present a pair of interesting options to hold down the fort at the back of the rotation.
While that group will hardly stand in the way of Jefferies receiving future looks in the rotation, the last-place A’s have no urgency to rush him back. More pressing for the organization is the recovery of a player under five additional years of team control.
Nothing is guaranteed in terms of pitching success upon recovery. Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly and Chris Archer of the Minnesota Twins are both years removed from the procedure and having modest success out of the rotation this year. Past pitchers haven’t always rebounded as decently however, as former San Diego Padres starter Tyson Ross saw a promising career derailed by the procedure. More recently, Washington Nationals reliever Will Harris underwent the procedure in May 2021 but has yet to return this season.
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