Blue Jays Aaron Loup dealing with dreaded forearm tightness

Blue Jays bullpen lefty Aaron Loup is now resting again after experiencing more forearm tightness in a throwing session on Thursday morning

There are two words that you don’t want to hear about a pitcher’s throwing arm.

Well, other than “Tommy John“.

Forearm tightness. That’s what Blue Jays left-handed reliever Aaron Loup experienced last Friday before being shut down for five days of rest.

Loup threw again this Thursday with trainer George Poulis, but tells TSN’s Scott MacArthur that the issue popped up again causing him to cut the throwing session short.

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“It started tightening up a little bit and then I got underneath a slider and it kind of wrenched, tightened up on me,” said Loup. “I threw another fastball, felt it again and then I shut it down.”

Tests have revealed that Loup is dealing with a “flexor pronator issue”, and when asked to locate the pain on his arm, MacArthur writes that he pointed to “a spot just below the inside of the elbow”.

Unfortunately, we’re running in to several familiarities that often preface those two hateful words. Yes, this time I mean Tommy John. And Loup admits it’s crossed his mind.

“At least not at the moment I’m not worried about it,” Loup said. “I was worried about it at first, but the more we seem to go, it’s getting better.”

Especially being an established veteran (even after his rocky 2015), expect the Blue Jays to exercise extreme caution with bringing Loup along as a month still remains until opening day.

The club also has a greater amount of left-handed depth behind Loup in the young Chad Girodo and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. Scott Diamond also comes from the left side, but his splits don’t necessarily lend themselves to left-on-left dominance.

It’s important to take a wait-and-see approach with Loup’s situation, which could very well turn out to be a non-issue. There is cause for concern, however, as Loup’s ability to rebound in 2016 is a critical factor in the Blue Jays bullpen picture.