San Diego Padres Prospect Joe Wieland undergoes elbow surgery

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego, CA- San Diego Padres Pitching Prospect Joe Wieland underwent successful elbow surgery Tuesday afternoon. The surgery will not end his season and his expected to be able to play catch in about six weeks.

The Padres were afraid earlier this spring that Wieland might need to have Tommy John surgery again after he experienced soreness in his throwing elbow. Thankfully that was not the case and he instead underwent a surgery to clean-up his elbow joint and will only miss the first half of the season.

Wieland underwent Tommy John surgery in the second half of the 2012 season and was expected to return at some point last season to the rotation, before suffring setbacks in his rehab due to a triceps strain that didn’t allow him to return to the mound until this spring.

Wieland was pitching well to start the spring and there was even some thought around the organization that he might be able to compete for a spot in the rotation or bullpen, but that optimism will have to wait until Wieland returns to the mound at some point during the second half of the season.