Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports suggested yesterday that Tommy John surgery is not nearly the frightening experience it used to be.  He may have a point.  He says there have been over 1,000 pitchers to undergo the procedure since Tommy John himself pioneered it.  One of those pitcher is Washington Nationals' prospect Cole Kimball.

Amanda Comak of the Washington Times says Nationals' coach Davey Johnson has been watching Kimball and is impressed.

Davey has been impressed w Cole Kimball, coming of '11 rotator cuff surgery. "I think he's back." Still likely he's at AAA closing.
— Amanda Comak (@acomak) February 17, 2013

Kimball was a 12th round pick of the 2006 draft by the Nationals, but he has progressed nicely.  In 2011, Kimball made his Major League debut with the Nats.  He appeared in 12 games and posted a 1.93 ERA.  Unfortunately, Kimball then suffered a torn UCL and had to miss the entire 2012 season.

Kimball is still just 27 years old and has a shot at eventually winning the closer job for the Nationals.  Even if he does not end up being the team's closer, he could be a valuable set-up man in the Majors.
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