PHOENIX -- D-backs right-hander Shelby Miller has been diagnosed with a strained flexor tendon and a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Miller is evaluating his options, which include stem cell treatment, platelet rich plasma therapy and Tommy John surgery.
"News came back from all the doctors, and I have a forearm flexor strain and a partial tear of my UCL," Miller said. "So just kind of gathering all that, and seeing where I'm going to go from there. Still haven't made a decision on what I'm going to do yet. Just seeing all the options that are available and what scenarios are best for me and the team. Just kind of still processing it."
Regardless of which option Miller chooses, he will be out for an extended period.
While avoiding Tommy John surgery sounds appealing, the risk is that if Miller goes with a different treatment and it turns out in a few months that the alternate approach didn't work, then he will still have to have the surgery, and it will push his return back even further.
"It's a gray area, for sure. It's not 100 percent torn where it's automatic having to get surgery," Miller said. "It's just putting together what is best. How am I going to come back stronger? If I do other options, is there an opportunity where it might not work out and I'd eventually have to get it done? It's not going to be an easy decision for me."
Miller received three opinions on the injury: One from team physician Gary Waslewski, as well as those of Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Dr. James Andrews.
All three told Miller essentially the same thing -- that he can either have Tommy John surgery or try to rehab it.
"If you do stem cell and it ends up working, that's great, and ultimately, that would be the best thing to happen," Miller said. "[But] you don't want to have it not work out and then end up missing a lot more time. You just have to play the odds and see what it is and what's smart and what's the right decision. The biggest thing is I want to be back and I want to be playing. The biggest thing also is you have to think about what's smart and what the right decision is."