MLB Prospects: Arodys Vizcaino, Sammy Solis Will Miss Entire 2012 Season

On Tuesday morning, the Atlanta Braves announced that right-hander Arodys Vizcaino, the team’s No. 3 prospect, underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2012 season.

As with fellow right-handed prospects Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado, Vizcaino factored into the Braves' immediate plans and was considered to be one of the top candidates for a bullpen role in 2012.

Last season, the 21-year-old went 5-5 with a 3.06 ERA while appearing in a combined 26 games between High-A Lynchburg, Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett—17 of which he started. In 97 minor-league innings last season, Vizcaino struck out 100 batters.

Despite exclusively working as a starter in the minors, Vizcaino reached the majors as a reliever last season, where he went 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.

While the news of Vizcaino’s injury may be disappointing, it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. In 2010, his first season in the Braves’ system, he suffered a partially torn elbow ligament. Although the injury did not require surgery, it did raise concerns about the right-hander’s durability and whether he could fully develop as a starter.

Vizcaino isn’t the only prospect to require season-ending surgery this spring, as earlier this month the Washington Nationals announced that left-hander Sammy Solis would miss the entire 2012 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, as well.

Solis, who I ranked as the Nationals’ No. 7 prospect, was fresh off a promising 2011 season in which he went 8-3 with a 3.26 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 96.2 innings.