Tommy John surgery
noun
Tom·my John surgery
ˈtä-mē-ˈjän- 
plural Tommy John surgeries
: a surgical procedure in which a torn ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow is replaced with a tendon graft typically obtained from a superficial muscle of the forearm : ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction
Dr. Timothy Kremchek, the medical director for the Cincinnati Reds, specializes in an elbow-ligament reconstruction procedure commonly known as Tommy John surgery, named for the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who first underwent it, in 1974.—
Sara Corbett
Sara CorbettBut as an outfielder he hurt his throwing arm and had to have Tommy John surgery before the year was out.—Kelli Anderson
Kelli AndersonExamples of Tommy John surgery in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Shohei Ohtani throws live batting practice session 19 months after Tommy John surgery
Dodgers box score
MLB scores
MLB standings
ANGELS
From Benjamin Royer: Angels manager Ron Washington knew his team needed cultural adjustments.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2025
Perhaps an underrated aspect of the strong start is the pitching, which appeared to be a big question in the final two-plus weeks of spring training after Gerrit Cole was lost for the season due to the dreaded Tommy John surgery on his elbow.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Fried, the biggest and first splash following Soto’s departure, has been sensational, recording a league-best 1.29 ERA over 11 starts and leading the Yankees’ rotation with Cole sidelined by Tommy John surgery.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 29 May 2025
After two seasons in Baltimore’s system — a significant chunk of it spent recovering from Tommy John surgery — he was sent to the Phillies as part of the Gregory Soto trade last July.
—Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for Tommy John surgery
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2025
Perhaps an underrated aspect of the strong start is the pitching, which appeared to be a big question in the final two-plus weeks of spring training after Gerrit Cole was lost for the season due to the dreaded Tommy John surgery on his elbow.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Fried, the biggest and first splash following Soto’s departure, has been sensational, recording a league-best 1.29 ERA over 11 starts and leading the Yankees’ rotation with Cole sidelined by Tommy John surgery.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 29 May 2025
After two seasons in Baltimore’s system — a significant chunk of it spent recovering from Tommy John surgery — he was sent to the Phillies as part of the Gregory Soto trade last July.
—Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for Tommy John surgery
Cite this Entry
“Tommy John surgery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tommy%20John%20surgery. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
Tommy John surgery
noun
Tom·my John surgery
ˈtäm-ē-ˈjän-
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share