When the results of Kyuji Fujikawa’s MRI weren’t immediately available, I started holding my breath.

And I don’t know what the opposite of exhaling is, since eventually you have to exhale, but, whatever it is, that’s what I’m doing. That’s because Fujikawa, whom the Cubs just signed a two-year deal in the offseason, needs Tommy John surgery.

Fujikawa went down earlier this year with a “muscular” forearm strain, with the quoted word heavily emphasized by the Cubs because of the implications of a forearm injury – it is often the precursor to/signal of structural problems in the elbow. In Fujikawa’s case, no amount of wordsmithing could change the fact that, apparently, his elbow had some problems.

And when, on his 30th-plus pitch on Sunday, he felt something pop in his elbow, that was all she wrote. Presumably he’ll have the surgery as soon as doctors are able, and then he’ll be on the typical 10 to 14 month recovery timeline. It’s possible he’ll be a useful piece in the second half in 2014, but you can’t count on it.

This sucks, as Fujikawa clearly is very talented, and the Cubs could have used him in 2014.