During the Winter Meetings, the Baltimore Orioles told media that Tsuyoshi Wada was ahead of schedule in his recovery from Tommy John surgery.  Wada underwent the surgery in May.  As long as all goes well with his rehab, he is expected back somewhere around May of next year.  And it seems, all is going well for Wada.

Roch Kubatko of MASN reported yesterday that he was told at the Winter Meetings of Wada's progress.  To be ahead of schedule in recovery from Tommy John surgery is great news.  It's not the type of procedure that players will rush back from, but with Wada's progress, he can be expected to return on the early end of the projected recovery timetable.  In years past, the recovery time has been 12-18 months.  Now, it is out of the norm if a player takes longer than 12 months.


The Orioles will be looking to follow up their magical playoff run with another successful season in 2013.  However, they will need to continue improving.  The American League East has improved vastly over the last few months.  Getting players like Wada back healthy will help Baltimore stay competitive.

Wada was signed out of Japan and has yet to make his Major League debut.  He pitched in one game at Norfolk, the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate, before suffering his elbow injury.  In Japan, Wada was 57-36 with a 2.88 ERA.  He is 31 years old, and the Orioles do not want to lose much more time with him.  If Wada can make an impact for the team's rotation, they want to know as soon as possible.  With his progress, they should see him early in the 2013 season.
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