Yankees Pitching Prospect James Kaprielian to Undergo Tommy John Surgery

New York Yankees pitching prospect James Kaprielian, the team's 2015 first-round pick, is scheduled to have Tommy John Surgery next week, according to Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal.

It's the second consecutive year Kaprielian will miss the majority of the season. Last year, a flexor tendon issue cost him most of his season.

"You see the ability that he possesses, but you have to be healthy to be able to harness it," general manager Brian Cashman told Dan Martin of the New York Post on Wednesday. "You know it's there. At some point, we're looking forward to having it for an extended period of time."

Cashman added: "Unfortunately right now, the front of his pro career has had some injuries with that elbow. He has an opportunity to have a very long career, regardless, so that's why every step is important... We have to take the right steps so we can ensure that the career path he's on is performance-related only and not gonna be dictated by missteps on the injury side."

The MLB Central crew discussed the injury: 

Kaprielian is considered the No. 6 prospect in the Yankees farm system by MLB.com and the No. 55 prospect in all of baseball. He is the top arm in the team's farm system and is just one of two Yankees pitchers, alongside left-hander Justus Sheffield (No. 75), in MLB.com's top-100 prospect rankings.

The site's scouting report included the following excerpt: "Kaprielian controls and commands his pitches very well, doing a good job of delivering all of them from the same arm slot. Considered more of a pitchability right-hander with a ceiling of a No. 3 starter when the Yankees drafted him, he's now showing frontline stuff. If he can stay healthy, he could bolster New York's rotation in the very near future."

B/R's Zachary Rymer noted the duality of Kaprielian's young career: 

The Yankees believed Kaprielian "could be on the fast track to the majors," according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com, but now there are legitimate questions about whether he'll ever be able to stay healthy enough to become an MLB starter.

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