Mike Pelfrey is about to be lost for the season and the Twins are being quiet

This season Mike Pelfrey has been very ineffective for the Twins.  Earlier this month, the Twins attributed the reason for Pelfrey's ineffectiveness to a groin injury, and placed him on the 15-day disabled list.   One of the obvious signs of concern was that even in his rehab assignment at AAA Rochester, Pelfrey could barely touch 90 mph with his fastball, losing a good 5-6 mph from last season.  After his last start at Rochester, he complained about his shoulder and the doctors concluded that it was his elbow that was "irritated".

Between then and now, additional information has been disclosed: 

• In addition to his Tommy John Surgery 2 years ago, Pelfrey had Ulnar Nerve Transposition surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews.
• His elbow has been hurting, since Spring Training and there was "tinkling" in his fingers
• He is on his way to visit Dr Andrews and the Twins are hoping that medication will take care of it, but he might have surgery if needed "there and then".

So Mike Pelfrey is about to get under the knife early next week. This is really bad news for the Twins, because these type of surgeries take 2-3 months before someone resumes activities with that arm and 4-6 months before someone can even challenge that arm in a game.  It is not "minor" as indicated in multiple places in that piece, likely based on the Twins' acting GM words.  4 to 6 weeks from now is October and November.   This explains a lot about Pelfrey's performance, but it does not help the Twins.  At least there is potential help at AAA Rochester in Trevor May and  Alex Meyer.