Royals club officials in Surprise, AZ said that closer Joakim Soria will take a couple of days to talk with family and decide what his next step will be after a second doctor confirmed that Soria is a prime candidate for Tommy John surgery. It would be the second time that Soria would undergo this procedure. Dr. Lewis Yocum, an elbow specialist in Los Angeles, and Dr. Vincent Key, the Royals’ head physician, both confirm damage to the ulnar collateral ligament.
His teammates noticed that Soria just wasn’t himself. “Even last year when he sat out a couple of times and then coming into camp, he was never just the old Jack. You could tell something was there,” Hochevar said. Last year in late May, he was removed temporarily as closer and then missed the last 2 1/2 weeks of the season with a hamstring strain.