Rays' De Leon diagnosed with torn UCL; will get 2nd opinion

Barely a week after Brent Honeywell went under the knife, the Tampa Bay Rays lost another top pitching prospect to a major injury Wednesday, as right-hander Jose De Leon was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, the club announced.

De Leon will get a second opinion on his elbow from Dr. James Andrews, the club added, but the 25-year-old is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

De Leon appeared in only two Grapefruit League games this spring, and struggled in his most recent outing, allowing a pair of runs on a walk and a home run March 3 against the Detroit Tigers. Widely considered one of the game's best prospects heading into the 2017 campaign, De Leon was expected to compete this spring for a spot in the Rays' rotation.

Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last winter in exchange for second baseman Logan Forsythe, De Leon missed considerable time in 2017 due to flexor mass discomfort, a lat strain, and elbow tendinitis, but the former 24th-round pick was effective when healthy, crafting a 3.05 ERA and 1.17 over 38 1/3 innings split between three minor-league levels. He made only one appearance for the Rays last season, logging 2 2/3 innings to help out his club's depleted bullpen in a May 29 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Hours before revealing De Leon's diagnosis, the Rays announced they will use a four-man rotation in 2018 that - barring further injuries - will comprise Chris Archer, Blake Snell, Jacob Faria, and Nathan Eovaldi.

"Our plan, we're not going to five," manager Kevin Cash said. "We're going to try to stay at four. We're going to have some bullpen days in there. We're going to try and do that for a long period of time. We're going to learn a lot in the first six weeks."