Late last month, the Tampa Bay Rays were dealt a big blow when top pitching prospect Brent Honeywell tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. Honeywell, who MLB.com ranks as the 18th best prospect in baseball, will miss the season with Tommy John surgery.

Now the news has gone from bad to worse. Right-hander Jose De Leon, another top pitching prospects in Tampa's season, has also reportedly torn his elbow ligament. He'll have Tommy John surgery as well.

The 25-year-old De Leon came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Logan Forsythe trade last offseason. He battled arm trouble last year and spent most of the season in the minors, throwing 38 1/3 innings with a 3.05 ERA. De Leon allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings in his only big league appearance in 2017.

MLB.com did not rank De Leon among their top 100 prospects this spring but he was a regular on top prospect lists in previous seasons, including being ranked as a top 40 prospect in the sport by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and MLB.com in both 2015 and 2016. 

MLB: Tampa Bay Rays-Media Day
Rays righty Jose De Leon needs Tommy John surgery. USATSI

The Rays are planning to use a four-man rotation this season, and at the moment, their rotation depth chart looks something like this:

  1. Chris Archer
  2. Blake Snell
  3. Jake Faria
  4. Nathan Eovaldi
  5. Matt Andriese
  6. Brent Honeywell (out with Tommy John surgery)
  7. Anthony Banda
  8. Jose De Leon (out with Tommy John surgery)
  9. Yonny Chirinos

Tampa Bay certainly has a reputation for being a pitching factory -- a well-earned reputation at that -- but right now, the club lost two top pitching prospects to Tommy John surgery, and they might have a tough time cobbling together a contending rotation in 2018.