White Sox prospect Adolfo to have elbow surgery

Micker Adolfo's career has already been blighted by injuries. Unfortunately, he'll have to add a major procedure to his long list of maladies.
The No. 10 White Sox prospect will undergo Tommy John surgery in the coming weeks, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon. The recovery time for the 21-year-old outfielder is expected to be between eight to 10 months, thus knocking him out for the rest of the 2018 regular season.

Adolfo was limited to designated-hitter duty this season after being diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during the early days of Spring Training. He still opened the season at Class A Advanced Winston-Salem without spending time on the disabled list and was put on a throwing program to try work his way back into the Dash outfield. A setback during that program is the reason why he will soon go under the knife.
When able to play, the 21-year-old slugger was having his best offensive season yet in the Minors. After his last game on Friday, Adolfo was hitting .283/.368/.466 with 11 homers, one triple and 18 doubles in 78 Carolina League games. His .834 OPS ranked 10th in the circuit. 

"No one wants to be injured, but my dad said to just stay on top of things and control what I could control, which was the task given to me," Adolfo told MiLB.com's Nathan Brown last week. "[Manager Omar Vizquel] told me not to get lazy.
"So I came into this season with a chip on my shoulder. I became a student of hitting. It was the only thing I could focus on. This is a great opportunity for me to get better as a hitter, both mentally and physically. I was positive I could get the job done as a hitter, and I think I have."
The elbow injury was the latest in a long string of injuries for the Dominican Republic native. Adolfo missed time with a fracture in his leg in 2015, a broken hamate bone in 2016 and a pinky finger injury last season. He is eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and will make for an interesting potential 40-man addition, given this latest injury.