The Angels have announced that lefty Andrew Heaney will undergo Tommy John surgery. He is expected to miss the rest of this season and all of next — though GM Billy Eppler says the team won’t pre-determine whether a late-2017 return is possible, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter).
Los Angeles had been holding out hope that Heaney’s ulnar collateral ligament would respond to growth hormone treatment, but the team says that has not been the case. Per the statement, Heaney also continued to experience discomfort while attempting to throw, leading to the decision to go through with the procedure.
Heaney is a critically important piece of the picture for the Halos both now and into the future. He was acquired for Howie Kendrick in a deal that the organization hoped would provide a strong rotation piece for years to come. Now, the team is left crossing its fingers that the same fate does not await Garrett Richards, who is also undergoing a similar treatment in an effort to stave off a UCL replacement.
The results had been promising. Heaney, 25, completed 105 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA pitching last year, with 6.6 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. The results may have been a bit fortunate — he carried a 3.73 FIP, 4.41 xFIP, and 4.31 SIERA on the year — but all told he seemed to be making good on his pedigree as the former 9th overall pick and a top-100 prospect.
With just 150 days of service coming into the season, Heaney won’t cost Los Angeles more than the minimum for some time. He’ll accrue service time while he’s out, of course, which will set him up for Super Two status heading into 2018. But given the minimal innings he has thrown, he won’t command much of a salary.
Needless to say, this is a disappointing development for Heaney, though it had been expected for some time. It’s also disheartening for the Fantex player investment model, which had made the young lefty its first affiliated player.
How long did he put off the tjs and would he have been back sometime in 2017 had he not?
I think he’s been putting it off since late April or early may, if I remember correctly. But even then he’s probably only got 2 or 3 starts tops at the end of 2017, so we’d probably just rest him to 2018 anyway
The Angels already told him he wasn’t going to pitch until 2018 if he needed surgery. He was postponing surgery hoping it’d get better.
At the 15th month mark which is usually standard time table that would put at maybe sept with no setbacks so it’d be a wasted season regardless.
They always say “we won’t start you until the following year.” But if it’s 2017, and the Angels are bound for the playoffs but needs pitching, you better believe Heaney is getting thrown back in there (if ready).
The chances if the Angels having to worry about the playoff this year or next are slim to none so I would not worry about it
Cold. I love it.
I like chocolate.
Nice
rough news
Heard awhile back that the reason the Dodgers flipped him so quickly for Howie Kendrick was injury scares. Makes sense now.
It was essentially a three=way deal. Heaney was technically a Dodger for only a couple of hours.
This trade is looking decent for the Dodgers. Dee Gordon suspended and Heaney getting TJ’s.
I’m sure they knew that would happen…
Not saying they knew, just that it is looking good for them.
Retrospectively, you’re spot on.
Heaney could win the Cy Young and he would still be best remembered for that tweet he posted after the Dodgers traded him.
Growth hormone? Is this some allowable version of HGG?
If someone needs TJ surgery, why not use a prohibited substance to help them heal since they will miss more than a full season anyway?
Hard to draw the line though. What about guys who may miss a few months? Or two weeks? They’ll be like, “Hey, he got help. where’s mine?”
How lucky for him that he got the Fantex deal