Scott Boras: Tarik Skubal underwent 'Skubal scope' procedure that projects to significantly shorten his recovery timeline from elbow surgery
Per Boras, Skubal is the benefit of the latest remarkable advancement in sports medicine that could bring him back to the mound a lot sooner than expected.
News broke last week that Detroit Tigers ace and two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal needed elbow surgery that typically comes with a three-month timeline to return. Skubal had that surgery on Thursday. After the procedure, MLB insider Jon Heyman reported that Skubal had a conservative timetable of two months to return and that he could conceivably be back within 4-6 weeks.
The report raised eyebrows and questions as to how that timeline was possible. On Sunday, Skubal’s agent Scott Boras revealed that Skubal underwent a new procedure that he confirmed is expected to significantly shorten his time on the shelf. It’s more like ‘an injection’ Boras told ESPN’s Buster Olney on the “Baseball Tonight Podcast” Sunday that Skubal is the first pro athlete to undergo the procedure that he and Dr.
Neal ElAttrache coined the “Skubal scope. ” Per Boras, the procedure is more like “an injection” than a surgery. “Dr.
Neal ElAttrache described essentially that he had — there's new technology where a needle-sized device, he can manipulate it where it doesn't in any way — he can put the scope in, and has a camera on the end of it that gives him a 120 degree look at everything,” Boras said. “Where he can be precise about where the bone chip was, and he could do this in a way that would not interrupt the tissue as a normal arthroscope would. ” Boras confirmed that Skubal didn’t have any ligament damage.