San Diego Padres Josh Johnson to undergoe Tommy John surgery

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego, CA- Josh Johnson will not throw a pitch for the Padres this season or maybe ever.

Johnson will undergo Tommy John surgery Thursday and will be performed by Dr. James Andrews. For Johnson this is the second Tommy John surgery in his career and his second elbow surgery within the past 12 months. Johnson previously had elbow surgery to remove bone spurs this past off-season before signing with the Padres.

The injury to Johnson is just another setback the Padres have faced to start the season, as Padres Assistant General Manager A.J. Hinch expressed to UT-San Diego’s Dennis Lin. 

"“He was arguably pitching as well as anybody that we had in spring training,” said Padres Assistant General Manager A.J. Hinch. “It’s a big loss and he unfortunately never got off the ground, other than a few spring training starts. We all feel badly for JJ that he’ll miss the rest of the year and leak into next year, too.”"

The Padres could bring back Johnson next season, as since he will make less than seven starts this season the Padres will have a club option for $4 million next season.

Johnson has always had the potential to be one of the games best pitchers and for a period of time he was, as he lead the National League in ERA with a 2.30 ERA in 2010 and was a two-time All-Star for the Marlins from 2009-2010. Unfortunately Johnson has been unable to stay healthy his entire career and has suffered a wide range of injuries since 2010.

The Padres were hoping to just get a productive and healthy Josh Johnson when they signed him to a one-year, $8 million deal this past off-season. With the potential for him to return to his former all-star form and for a period of time it seemed like all signs were pointing towards that, as Johnson looked excellent in Spring Training and appeared ready to begin the season. Until he was forced to begin the season on the disabled list with a flexor strain in his right forearm