Tommy John Surgery

The news that pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg is likely headed for Tommy John surgery put a stunning end to what had been one of the most mesmerizing stories of the the baseball season. Strasburg’s spectacular 14-strikeout debut for the Nationals in June had managed to exceed all the outsized hype that preceded it.

The Nationals announced Friday that a magnetic resonance imaging test revealed a significant tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm. The team said he was headed to get a second opinion and if the original diagnosis is confirmed, he would have the surgery immediately.

That means only 12 games into his major league career, Strasburg, 22, is facing a 12-to-18-month recovery from the operation and perhaps another season to recover his form. Strasburg, the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft, seemed headed for superstardom and now looks like a lot of young pitchers whose arms fail suddenly.

“It’s a tough day for him and for all of us, for everyone who’s a Nats fan,” the Nationals’ president, Stan Kasten, said in a conference call with reporters on Friday, a day after Jordan Zimmerman pitched for the first time after his Tommy John surgery a year ago. “We saw Jordan come back last night. A year from today, Stephen will be joining him.”

That is the optimistic end of the timeline, but about 90 percent of major league pitchers who have undergone the surgery have been coming back successfully. In fact, nine of the pitchers selected for the 2010 All-Star game had undergone the surgery.

Trouble first surfaced for Strasburg in July, when he was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of inflammation in his right shoulder. He returned two weeks ago, but his season lasted just three more starts. He was pulled from Saturday’s game against Philadelphia in the fourth inning after grabbing his arm and wincing in pain after throwing a changeup.

The team initially called it a strained flexor tendon in his forearm, but further testing revealed the ligament tear.

“The player was developed and cared for in the correct way, and things like this happen,” Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said in the conference call. “Pitchers break down, pitchers get hurt and we certainly are not second-guessing ourselves. Frustrated? Yes. But second-guessing ourselves? No.”

Strasburg was not made available on the conference call for comment. He is headed to California for the second opinion, the team said.

“As you can imagine, he was initially upset, but he has really turned himself from being upset to being focused on his rehabilitation,” Rizzo said. “He’s determined to get the surgery done and begin the process of rehabilitation.”