TODAY: After meeting with Dr. ElAttrache, Chen received a good diagnosis and won’t require surgery, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports. While Chen’s elbow ligament is inflamed, it is believed that the PRP injection he already received is the only treatment required for the time being.
TUESDAY, 7:40pm: Chen’s injury status sounds even more ominous with full context from manager Don Mattingly. As Mattingly tells Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, not only will Chen not pitch again in 2017, there’s a possibility that he won’t pitch in 2018, either. “I’m not really sure if he’s going to be able to get back next year,” said Mattingly. “We know [the tear] is there. It keeps coming back, it kind of gets extended a little bit.”
Per Healey, Chen will visit with renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache in the coming days. Certainly, given the known presence of a partial UCL tear, one would imagine that Tommy John surgery will eventually become an option (though some pitchers have managed to pitch through partial tears of the UCL and avoid going under the knife).
6:33pm: Wei-Yin Chen’s season for the Marlins is over as the result of additional concerns about the southpaw’s left elbow, tweets Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Chen will have yet another examination on the elbow, and his future is “up in the air,” per Spencer.
Chen, 32, made just five starts for the Marlins earlier this season before missing the majority of the year due to troubles in his left elbow. Chen was reportedly diagnosed with a partial tear of his left ulnar collateral ligament last summer and ultimately pitched just 123 1/3 innings in his first season with the Marlins. This year, he’s been limited even more dramatically, totaling just 33 innings between the rotation and the bullpen.
The difficulties with Chen’s elbow are particularly problematic for a low-payroll Marlins club that signed the southpaw to one of the largest free-agent deals in franchise history. Chen is just two seasons into a five-year, $80MM contract and, while the agreement contains an opt-out clause following the current season, there’s obviously no way that he’ll be forgoing the remaining $52MM he’s owed through 2020 to reenter the open market.
[Related: Miami Marlins depth chart]
With Chen’s future now looking even more uncertain, Miami faces an uphill battle in rounding out its rotation with competitive arms next year. Opening Day starter Edinson Volquez, signed through the 2018 season, underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career last month and is likely to miss most of, if not all of the 2018 season. The Marlins’ current rotation features Dan Straily, Adam Conley, Jose Urena, rookie Dillon Peters and former Padres/Orioles swingman Odrisamer Despaigne. Miami’s farm system, generally regarded as one of the weakest in the game, offers little in terms of upper-level options to step into a starting role, beyond the aforementioned Peters.
If Chen would have just gone ahead with the TJ surgery last year he might have been back by spring training 2018. Even if he has it now he still won’t be back until midway thru 2019. What a train wreck this contract has turned out to be.
And for all the talk about Dan Duquette’s bad signings and bad non-signings, thank goodness he laid off of this one. (Though you could make a case that Chen would be better than several of the options in the current rotation – LOL.)
Maybe they can package Yelich and Chen to get at least a prospect or two back and dump a contract. What a mess this team is in. Wouldn’t want to be a Marlins fan.
Jeff Loria must be one of the happiest guys in the world right now.
I’m glad it’s happening to Jeter now too. Sorry Marlins fans, but after his front office diva act already in firing Connie, Dawson, and other Marlins executives without having the courage to tell them himself, I hope he’s cursed with a losing franchise until he goes back to New York with his tail between his legs. It’s just wrong having him work for another franchise he had no association with. Boston respected Big Papi enough to sign him to a lifetime contract just last week to serve the team; it would be wrong if Ortiz ended up coaching somewhere like Cincinnati or Colorado, or elsewhere he has no connection.
Baseball is a business, get over it.
Karma strikes this wretched franchise again. They are an embarrassment to the league. MLB should have stripped him of ownership and moved the franchise elsewhere.
I don’t know, 2 World Series Championships in the last 20 years is more than a lot of other teams have managed.
Issues like that are tough because it’s hard to commit to losing the player to surgery while paying them a large contract, but at the same time you see if it keeps getting pushed back the length they are out grows.
I’m not saying this is the most moral option for the Marlins, but they might want to at least entertain the idea of slipping something into Chen’s drink and get him to sign the opt out papers before he comes to. You didn’t hear this from me. ;)