Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa, in an effort to avoid a second Tommy John surgery, will have a stem cell injection in his injured right elbow Tuesday.
De La Rosa visited Monday with surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who concluded that the right-hander did not need another operation. Andrews performed the first surgery on De La Rosa's elbow in 2011.
"The biggest fear, when you look at the situation he's in, is if we reconstruct it, there's about a 40 percent chance of return," Diamondbacks head athletic trainer Ken Crenshaw told reporters Monday. "Given the first UCL reconstruction is 75-80 percent, the second one is about 40 percent.
"I think Dr. Andrews' feelings were let's just save our biggest bullet for last. Let's try this option."
De La Rosa, 27, is 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA this season and has been experiencing elbow pain since late May. He was on the disabled list for more than three months and has made two appearances since being activated on Sept. 9.
