Athletics' Opening Day starter Kendall Graveman to have Tommy John surgery

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Oakland Athletics opening day starter Kendall Graveman, who was sent down to the minors after going winless the first month of the season, will have Tommy John surgery.

A's manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday that Graveman's surgery will be performed by Texas Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister. The manager didn't know when the surgery would be.

"It's unfortunate that he's having to go down this road right now, it's going to take a little while for him to get back," Melvin said.

Graveman was 0-5 with an 8.89 ERA in his six starts this season for the A's before getting sent down to Triple-A Nashville on April 26. The 26-year-old right-hander got a second opinion after a recent setback with his troublesome pitching elbow.

Melvin said there was no indication whether those issues had any impact on Graveman's struggles with the A's.

"There were games when the velo was a little bit better than others, but he never said anything. It wasn't until really until his last one or two starts he had at Triple-A that he started feeling anything," Melvin said. "It's probably more of a question for him. Nothing popped up on the radar for us that would suggest that maybe that was altering his performance a little bit."

Graveman was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four Triple-A starts. When he was sent down, he had the most losses, runs allows (28) and hits allowed (41) in the majors.

The pitcher had last been optioned to the minors in 2015 after starting the year 1-2 with an 8.27 ERA in four starts. He came back a month later to go 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA over his first nine starts following his return.