FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman left-handed pitcher Colin Fisher will have season-ending surgery Monday, head coach Dave Van Horn revealed at his final Swatter's Club luncheon of the season.
After the initial MRI, the hope is that Fisher will not need Tommy John to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), but they won't know for sure until Fisher goes into surgery at 3 p.m. CT Monday.
"He'll be done for the year," Van Horn said. "We don't know if he's going to get what's called an internal brace, which means it's not Tommy John. It just means that there's a little bit of an issue there and it's a lot lets recovery time. We're hoping that's the case.
"That's what all the doctors think — our doctors, doctors that are with big league teams that have looked at his MRIs — That's what they're seeing. When they get in there and if it's torn, they'll do Tommy John surgery and he won't be back for a year."
The news comes after Fisher hasn't pitched since April 17 against Texas Tech. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound freshman from Noble, Oklahoma, had a promising first season with a 6-1 record and 1.96 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched. Fisher struck out 24 batters and walked seven while allowing just five earned runs on 18 hits.
Van Horn mentioned that a doctor he spoke to said the injury shows sign of being an old injury, potentially from before Fisher's time with the Hogs.
"It’s been bothering him, I guess, a little bit," Van Horn said. "We didn’t really know. Kind of had some soreness and then we gave him some time off. And then we’d pitch him and he was sore again and you’re kind of like okay, we’ve got to see if there is something going on in there."
If they do get good news that Fisher won't require Tommy John surgery, Van Horn said the big left-hander could be ready to go by Christmas this year. If Tommy John surgery is required, the recovery will be much longer.
As for now, Fisher is keeping his spirits high and supporting the Razorbacks, who are ranked fifth nationally by D1Baseball after a series loss at Kentucky over the weekend.
"Been taking him on all the trips, he’s been great," Van Horn said. "Bouncing around, I think he’s just ready to get it healthy and be ready for next year."
Arkansas will host No. 14 Mississippi State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville this weekend from a series from Friday-Sunday. First pitch Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
