Joel Hanrahan needs Tommy John surgery again, so Tigers release him

The news was doubly bad Wednesday for Joel Hanrahan, the ex-All Star closer who was trying to prove himself to the Detroit Tigers: He needs another Tommy John, so the Tigers released him.

Hanrahan had elbow surgery early in the 2013 season when he was with the Boston Red Sox. While he was in the middle of rehabbing, he signed a one-year deal with the Tigers for 2014. They thought Hanrahan would be ready toward the end of the 2014 season, but he wasn’t.

As he prepped for 2015, still with the Tigers on a minor-league deal, Hanrahan never got to point of pitching pain-free, so now he’s set for his second Tommy John surgery in less than two years. He knows this swings the odds against him in a major way, telling Jason Beck of MLB.com:

“It’s going to be a slow rehab,” said Hanrahan. “[Dr. Keith Meister] told me he wants me to go nine months without picking up a ball, and usually that’s four [months]. I’m going to give it what I’ve got, do the rehab and see where it leads. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it through and hopefully get back on the field someday.”

Hanrahan was an All-Star in 2011 and 2012 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s 33, so it’s not entirely out of the question that he could pitch again, but coming back from two Tommy John surgeries is much more daunting that coming back from one.

This season, actually, a number of pictures are trying to come back from their second Tommy John surgeries. On that list: Kris Medlen, Jarrod Parker, Josh Johnson, Brandon Beachy and Cory Luebke. How well they do could either give Hanrahan some hope or make his climb back to MLB even tougher.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz