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UPDATE (12:45 PM PST): The A's have made an announcement regarding Parker's injury, and it seems to be good news.
#Athletics terming Jarrod Parker's setback a lateral elbow impingement
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 10, 2016
Lateral is back of elbow, different area than Parker's previous three surgeries. #Athletics Trainer Nick Papresta says that's encouraging.
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 10, 2016
Parker will undergo an MRI, but the team is confident that this isn't a serious setback. He has some swelling, but has a full range of motion, which is encouraging. It's still too early to make any definitive statements about when Parker will get back on the mound, or back to a normal routine, but this doesn't appear to be a season-ending injury.
ORIGINAL: Jarrod Parker has had an awful stretch of luck when it comes to injuries. In March of 2014, the A's announced that Parker had to undergo Tommy John surgery, which prevented him from pitching all of that season. In 2015, he was on the way back, but on May 8th, he fractured his elbow while delivering a pitch (warning: don't watch the video if you're squeamish), and was forced to miss the rest of the year.
It was devastating to see, as not only was he in a tremendous amount of pain, but because he was so close to making it back to the major league level. After another rehab process, Parker was deemed healthy once again, and has been participating in major league spring training. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but unfortunately that came to a crashing halt today.
Jarrod Parker, facing hitters for the first time this spring, just came off the mound yelling in pain after throwing a pitch. #Athletics
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 10, 2016
Parker was facing #Athletics hitters on back field. He walked off the field immediately and is talking to trainers
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 10, 2016
Asked #Athletics pitching coach Curt Young if Parker is OK. "I think so," Young said, but left further details to trainers.
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 10, 2016
The report from Curt Young is encouraging, but this is obviously worrisome. Parker is coming off two serious elbow injuries, and for him to leave the game after "yelling in pain" is not good. Of course this doesn't mean he's headed for another Tommy John surgery, or that he re-fractured his elbow, but it's hard to be optimistic in this situation.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.