Cody Anderson

Indians right-hander Cody Anderson has been diagnosed with a sprain of the UCL in his right elbow. He is considering his options.

(Ted S. Warren, Associated Press)

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Indians right-hander Cody Anderson has been diagnosed with a sprained UCL in his right elbow. He had an MRI on Wednesday after telling team trainers that he felt discomfort in the elbow.

Anderson will take a few days to decide his next step. Surgery is a possibility and that could involve a ligament transplant that would sideline him for a year. Manager Terry Francona, however, told reporters Thursday morning that, "as of right now the feeling is he won't need surgery."

Francona said the next step will be Anderson getting a second opinion on the elbow.

"We are working through that with him on who that second opinion will be with and when it will be," said Francona. "He was going to be down for a while anyway so there's no immediate rush. But for his sake you'd like to get it looked at again."

In November Anderson underwent surgery on the elbow after struggling last year in the big leagues and at Class AAA Columbus. The surgery sidelined Anderson for eight weeks, but early in camp he was throwing well until his elbow started hurting again.

Francona said that because Anderson was about to start throwing breaking balls as part of his rehab, the medical staff decided to get the elbow examined.

Anderson's injury cuts into the Tribe's depth at starting pitcher. Anderson, Mike Clevinger, Ryan Merritt, Adam Plutko and Shawn Morimando were expected to start at Columbus this year.

In 2015 Anderson went 7-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 15 starts with the Indians. Last year, however, he went 2-5 with a 6.68 ERA in 19 games. Anderson made the Tribe's postseason roster in the ALDS and ALCS, but did not pitch.