Tommy John surgery can work once, twice — even 3 1/2 times — for major league pitchers


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NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani, Jacob deGrom and Walker Buehler found out Tommy John surgery is no longer a rarity but now routine. Pitchers can look to Jonny Venters as they return from a second operation to repair a torn elbow ligament: He made it back to the big leagues after what he calls 3 1/2 Tommy John procedures. As TJ surgery approaches its 50th anniversary in September, Jon Roegele's online record lists over 2,200 players who underwent the operation. Among them are 151 who have had it twice. Since returning from a second TJ, Nathan Eovaldi is 41-27 and a two-time All-Star.

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Ronald Blum

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