APRIL 14: Moore will undergo Tommy John surgery, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The young hurler said that he decided to have the procedure after experiencing discomfort while throwing this afternoon. "What was coming out, it's a shame to be have to be shut down right now but it just wasn't comfortable," Moore said. "Being stuck in the position I am right now, where it's not exactly comfortable but it's not exactly completely broke, it's kind of one of those things where you know it's going to get worse."

APRIL 10: Moore, the team, and the doctors they've consulted are still assessing the injury and the options, according to the updated report from Topkin. "What [executive VP Andrew Friedman] wanted to do was discuss it in more depth [today] based on the results as we get them," Maddon said. "We need to get all the facts and see how we want to proceed with this, see if surgery is necessary, if it's not necessary, we're still waiting to find out."

A contrast-aided MRI conducted yesterday is expected to help provide answers. One question, according to Topkin, is whether all or part of the damage was pre-existing, which will require comparison to past scans. "I don't think it's fully torn from what I understand," said Maddon, "but I don't know that. The test with the dye would probably be more conclusive."

APRIL 9: Rays manager Joe Maddon said that it is "not a slam dunk surgery right now" after Moore's tests and consultations today, tweets Topkin. Discussions about how to proceed will continue tomorrow.

APRIL 8: The injury that drove Rays starter Matt Moore from his start yesterday involves his UCL, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Moore, 24, will see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, as was reported earlier today.

UCL tears are commonly associated with the Tommy John procedure, of course, as that is the surgical option in the event of a tear. As Passan notes, pitchers can occastionally attempt to rehab and pitch through a tear if it is minor enough, though in that situation any delay would push back the timetable in the event that surgery is ultimately necessary.

The club had sounded optimistic earlier this morning, but the outlook apparently took a downturn as the day went along, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted earlier this evening. Moore, one of the most promising young arms in the game, is in the midst of a five-year, $14MM extension that also includes three option years covering the 2017-19 seasons. Though Tampa has options to fill in for him in the near term — including Nate Karns and Erik Bedard — the team is already dealing with the loss of Jeremy Hellickson for the early part of the season and the suspension of prospect Alex Colome.