ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Judging by what happened to Shawn Kelley and Dellin Betances, Tommy John surgery is in Ivan Nova’s future.
Nova was diagnosed with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow Saturday night after he left a game against the Rays in the fifth inning.
He will be examined Monday by Yankees team doctor Chris Ahmad in New York.
While Nova is hopeful he can avoid surgery, the reality is he probably won’t.
“The first one was a partial tear, 50 percent and I tried to rehab the first one for a month,’’ said Kelley, who had two Tommy John procedures done on his right elbow. “I rehabbed for a month and called Dr. [James] Andrews.’’
Betances’ situation was similar to Nova’s.
“Mine wasn’t a full tear and every pitcher is different. I rehabbed it at first, but for me it didn’t feel right,’’ he said.
“It’s hard. I don’t even know what to say to you guys,’’ Nova said Sunday morning in the Yankees’ clubhouse before a 5-1 win in 12 innings over the Rays at Tropicana Field. “I am so sad right now I am not going to be pitching. It hurts but God is real big. I know he is not going to forget me. I am going to keep working hard to get back as soon as possible.’’
If Nova undergoes Tommy John surgery, the soonest return he can hope for is a year from now, since the usual recovery time is 12-to-18 months.
“It’s really unfortunate,’’ Joe Girardi said of potentially losing Nova, who is 2-2 after getting pounded for eight runs and eight hits in four-plus innings in Saturday night’s 16-1 beating by the Rays, a start in which he felt something pop in the elbow on his final pitch. “It’s a guy we were counting on pretty heavily this year.’’
Sunday morning Girardi wasn’t ready to name Nova’s replacement and said there are several options. Among them was Sunday’s starter Vidal Nuno, a lefty reliever filling the void created by Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Cubs and relievers Adam Warren and David Phelps.
Nuno made a case by throwing five scoreless innings Sunday and is likely the leading candidate.
If Girardi doesn’t select Nuno and want to mess with Phelps and Warren, who have overall been good in the bullpen, the organization could decide to fill the void with Alfredo Aceves, who made his first start of the season Thursday night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and threw five shutout innings. Aceves, a Yankee from 2008-10, signed a minor league contract with the team on March 28 after spending spring training with the Orioles and opting out.
A trade at this time of the year is almost impossible, and with the glut of injuries to pitchers, not likely.
“It seems to be the surgery of choice this year,’’ Girardi said of the Tommy John procedure. “I don’t know what to make of it. I try not to be God or doctor.’’
Despite scouts noticing Nova’s stuff wasn’t crisp before he left the game — especially the curveball, which hung and was smacked for two of the four homers he gave up — the pitcher said he felt a pop in his elbow on the second pitch to Evan Longoria in the fifth inning — likely the final pitch Nova will throw for a while.
If Girardi doesn’t select Nuno and doesn’t want to mess with Phelps and Warren, who have overall been good in the bullpen, the organization could decide to fill the void with Alfredo Aceves, who made his first start of the season Thursday night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and threw five shutout innings. Aceves, a Yankee from 2008-10, signed a minor league contract with the team on March 28 after spending spring training with the Orioles and opting out.
 Additional reporting by Ken DavidoffÂ