Phillies prospect Matt Imhof suffers serious eye injury, has surgery

A Philadelphia Phillies minor league pitcher suffered a potentially career-threatening eye injury in a freak training accident in the Class A Florida State League late last week, his agent confirmed to ESPN.com Monday.

Clearwater Threshers pitcher Matt Imhof, the Phillies' second-round pick in the 2014 MLB first-year player draft, suffered a "significant injury to his right eye'' during postgame arm care band work, agent Adam Karon said.

Imhof, 22, was taking part in a routine stretching regimen after a game at Brevard County when a piece of equipment malfunctioned and he was struck in the right eye, a baseball source told ESPN.com. Imhof has undergone surgery and is likely to need further procedures, the source said.

Imhof, a 6-foot, 5-inch left-hander out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, received a signing bonus of $1,187,900 from the Phillies as the 47th overall pick in 2014. He has struggled with his control in professional ball and recently begun transitioning from the starting rotation to the bullpen.

MLB.com ranked Imhof as the Phillies' No. 19 prospect in 2015, but did not include him among the team's top 30 prospects in its 2016 rankings.

Karon said Imhof's family has asked for privacy as he recovers from his injury and would have no further comment.