(Photo Courtesy of Eric Hurd/UCLA Athletics)
UCLA Baseball Freshman Pitcher Thatcher Hurd Out Indefinitely with Pars Defect
After exiting one out into his latest appearance, the Bruins’ surging freshman has received an indefinite diagnosis for his injury.
Shifting into the weekend rotation following a stint as the weekday starter for No. 15 UCLA baseball (20-8, 6-3 Pac-12), freshman pitcher Thatcher Hurd solidified himself as one of the top first-year starters in the conference by leading his team in several statistical categories. However, after beginning his regular scheduled Sunday start against Oregon on April 3, the Bruins’ budding right-hander left with just two batters in due to injury.
On Thursday, UCLA revealed Hurd had suffered a pars defect in his back, which is also known as a stress fracture of the bones of the lower spine. The Bruins also revealed that because of the injury, Hurd had been ruled out indefinitely.
Recovery time for a pars defect depends on the progress made over the first few weeks post-diagnosis. In some cases, a full recovery could be made in 2-3 months, but if issues continue to arise after rehab, healing time could extend further and even result in surgery, according to Regenexx.
With UCLA and coach John Savage usually leaning towards the side of caution with injuries – especially with younger players – it’s entirely possible that Hurd’s debut season has reached its end.
“Thatcher has made an immediate impact on the field as a freshman, and we are looking forward to having him back when he gets healthy,” Savage said in a statement released on Twitter.
As a recruit, Perfect Game had Hurd ranked as the No. 36 overall prospect and No. 11 pitcher in the 2021 recruiting class. Narrowing it down to California recruits, the hurler was the No. 2 overall prospect and No. 1 right-handed pitcher in the state.
Though not all of his appearances were as a starter, Hurd holds the lowest ERA of all Bruins’ pitchers this season. In 34.0 innings — the second-most on the team — Hurd held a 2-0 record and a 1.06 ERA, while striking out 48 batters, walking 10 and boasting a team-low .138 opponents batting average.
Hurd’s two most efficient starts came in non-conference midweek action against Omaha and Long Beach State. The righty allowed one run in 5.0 innings against the Mavericks and struck out 11, while against the Dirtbags, he threw 5.0 scoreless innings with 12 punchouts.
Since then, Hurd’s strikeout numbers have dropped a bit, but he has remained a vital rotation piece for UCLA, recently hurling 6.0 innings against Arizona while only allowing one earned run.
Freshman left-hander Gage Jump will replace his freshman counterpart in the rotation. On Sunday against Utah, the lefty will start for the first time in his collegiate career.
So far this season, Jump has pitched out of the bullpen after returning from an injury that began the campaign. The Bruins are still awaiting junior starting pitcher Jared Karros, who has been dealing with a back injury since before the season.
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