The Angels received a worst-case diagnosis on the right elbow of closer Keynan Middleton, as doctors have recommended that the 24-year-old righty undergo Tommy John surgery (Twitter links via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). He’ll miss the remainder of the 2018 season and a significant portion of the 2019 campaign as well.
Middleton becomes the latest in a growing line of Angels hurler’s who’ve been plagued by significant injuries in recent years. Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, Nick Tropeano, Matt Shoemaker and J.C. Ramirez have all had arm troubles over the past couple of seasons, with Skaggs, Heaney, Tropeano and Ramirez each also requiring Tommy John surgery.
The loss of Middleton stings quite a bit for the Angels and ranks among the more impactful injuries they’ve incurred recently. The flamethrowing young righty has averaged nearly 97 mph on his heater since making his MLB debut last year, and he’s pitched to a combined 3.43 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 36.7 percent ground-ball rate in 76 Major League innings. Middleton has been especially effective in 2018, notching a 2.04 ERA and taking over the Angels’ ninth-inning job with six saves.
Of course, there’s been some cause for concern even as he racks up impressive run-prevention numbers. Middleton’s velocity was down 0.7 mph early this season, and his swinging-strike rate had plummeted from a robust 16.6 percent last season to a pedestrian 9.5 percent this year. Unsurprisingly, Middleton’s K/9 rate dipped, and his walk rate spiked as well. In all, while his 2.04 ERA certainly looks impressive on the surface, it’s been buoyed by an 88.5 percent strand rate and minuscule 5.3 percent homer-to-flyball ratio — neither of which he was likely to sustain. Metrics such as FIP (3.77), xFIP (4.79) and SIERA (4.40) all projected regression for Middleton, though it’s clear that he has the talent to be a high-quality reliever for years to come.
Unfortunately, that promising future will be put on hold for the time being. The possibility exists that Middleton won’t be ready to pitch until the 2020 season, though the Angels will obviously be holding out hope for a return next summer. In the meantime, he’ll accrue valuable service time while rehabbing on the Major League disabled list. Middleton won’t reach arbitration eligibility this offseason, but he’ll wrap up the 2019 campaign with two years, 150 days of MLB service, making him a lock to qualify as a Super Two player. The Angels control him all the way through the 2023 season.
well that just sucks par for the course of this pitching staff can’t catch a break oh well that’s baseball as old Mike Scioscia says turn the page.
It’s cliche man.
I’m absolutely sick and tired of this B.S. please, fire THE ENTIRE TRAINING STAFF, fire everyone who deals with any of our pitchers. Please. I am so tired of this happening to our pitchers. Fire Scioscia if he is the cause, I don’t care, fire whoever’s fault it is for all these injuries.
-Sincerely, an Angels fan
I grant you as an angel fan it does suck but that’s part of the game injuries all teams get them you can blame the staff you can blame the manager but it’s baseball we all get the injuries but this team seems to have its fair share of arm injuries I don’t know if firing the whole damn Sports department and Fitness training whatever you want to call it is going to solve the problem I doubt it it’s baseball all teams deal with it it just seems that the Angels deal with it more than most teams, I’m just tired of it as you are I’ve been a fan for 23 years and I’ve seen this too much we’ll just have to deal with it suck it up as they say.
J.C Ramirez, Alex Meyer, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, Matt Shoemaker, Nick Tropeano, Keynan Middleton. They have all missed at least one year worth of baseball. This is sad. Complete B.S. I have no idea what is going on in the minor leagues, but all of these injuries have occurred while on the Halos. All these injuries have occurred fairly quickly after making their Angel debut. Minus Richards and Shoemaker who already had 2-3 years.
Meyer came in with problems
andrewgauldin…You realize that most damage done to the arms of kids like this was done much earlier, right? The UCL doesn’t just snap unless it’s a traumatic event like falling and hyperextension trying to catch yourself. He was throwing 95 in Lane CC and has been playing baseball since he was 4.
UCL damage is cumulative and most of the damage is done as kids. They are told to throw as hard as they can all of the time to make it to MLB.
Okay I can acknowledge that, but how come it’s so prevalent on the Angels? I am not just talking about UCL damage either. I just mentioned on a comment above listing the pitchers the angels have lost for more than a season over the past few years.
The innings are monitored and managed more than ever yet the TJ surgeries continue to rise. Why? For starters, endurance is abandoned for pure smoke; blow hitters away for a shortened amount of time.
But, the arm guards on hitters are what’s really putting a strain on pitchers. More fouling off pitches because they aren’t as afraid of pitches coming in on them. Pitchers throw a little harder to get the ball past the hitters crowding the plate and fouling breaking pitches. Take the arm guards off and the TJ surgeries will drop. We might even see another 300 win pitcher in the future.
“but how come it’s so prevalent on the Angels?” It’s called baseball, bad luck and fan perception. Just a few years ago Texas fans were complaining that they had to have the most TJS when in fact they weren’t even in the top 5…..Atlanta was at 23 TJS.
As Jorge78 said….they play year round and that’s bad. Many draftees, especially pitchers are damaged goods when selected…..it just hasn’t shown up yet. Even MLB’s Pitch Smart program advises pro player to take a few months off and do NOT play winter ball. They do it anyway because of the $$$$$$$
Relax.
– Mets fans
Look at the whole baseball landscape bud, most teams have injuries. Need to teach better pitching mechanics in little league to put less strain on the ligaments in the arm. We arent designed to throw a baseball, need to raise mound back to how it use to be to save pitchers arms.
Many baseball fans tend to be fans of one team, and often lack any general sort of perspective.of “what happens elsewhere”.
The leap to major league distance for many pitchers after little league is a bit much for guys at age 13.
Over 1,400 Tommy John Surgeries have been performed with most of them being done on pitchers aged 15-19. A video clip on MLB Network last season showed that 87% of Major League games in 2017 featured at least one pitcher who had Tommy John Surgery. This is an epidemic going throughout all of baseball. The Angels just happen to be the hard luck case that shows how prevalent this is in the game right now. But now their entire rotation is back and pitching together, and they all have ERA’s under 4.00. Could you imagine the depth they would’ve had if all those starters had been healthy and they had not traded Mike Clevenger and Tyler Chatwood? The only thing the Angels really need to do right now is find some bullpen help because they could have the best record in baseball right now if not for their bullpen.
Yup. They play travel ball most most of the year so they can get “noticed” by scouts. Look at all the college injuries. Position players having UCL surgery?
Too much baseball too much of the time…..
Reminds me of the cubs In the late 90’s
Eve accounting for the relationship between long-term guaranteed deals and injuries (you’re more likely to take time off when there’s money in the bank), there’s NO doubt that current pitching philosophy is nonsense. It’s UNDER-use, not OVER-use; pitch counting is insane. You build it (arm) up, you don’t wear it down!
Just think if that ideology was used in other sports…..go ahead, just think.
ALL the best have said it, from Ryan to Smoltz to Maddox to Gibson etc.,etc.,etc….and MLB owners continue to be bs-itted by agents who have never worn a jock strap. And now they get to talk to GMs who never wore one.
It’s going to be impossible to change at this point…….expect more and more and more of this…..
bobtillman……..Yeah, that explains why 50% of TJS are performed on 15-19 year olds. BTW Smoltz has also pointed out the he and others didn’t throw with max effort all the time. They pitched to get batters out and kept some in the tank.
“Throwing is good. Throwing really hard can be bad. Doing some kind of throwing can definitely help build arm strength. We didn’t know this before Tommy — when he’d throw, he could toss OK, but once he got to 75 percent effort, that’s when stress transfers from the muscle to the ligament.” – Dr Frank Jobe http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/bp/1431308.html
UCL injuries in pros usually appear to be cumulative — i.e., much of the damage was done during the amateur years;
Pitchers should not pitch with maximum effort at all times, and that goes for side work as well as games;
Among pro pitchers, participation in winter league baseball is to be discouraged;
Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Glenn Fleisig of the American Sports Medicine Institute
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/dr-james-andrews-releases-position-statement-on-tommy-john-epidemic/
But I am sure they are wrong and you are right.
Guys are throwing over 75% effort because they feel they have to in-order to finish off hitters. Plus hitters are allowed to crowd the plate thanks to the arm guards/elbow pads and umpires punishing pitchers sometimes after 1 hit by pitch when it’s not warranted.
@ TrimReaper….He wasn’t suggesting that you never ever throw over 75% effort. He was explaining that strain transfers at about that level.
Throwing does strengthen muscles but ligaments can’t be strengthened and throwing overhand is an unnatural motion. We are not designed to throw that way. It’s why Javelin throwers are also extremely susceptible.
Kids are brought, by parents and coaches, to believe they have to play year round, throw with max effort year round. A lot of these kids don’t take off more than 2-3 weeks in a year and the damage starts then.
There is so much info out there that is ignore. 51% of HS players “incorrectly believe that Tommy John surgery should be performed on players with an elbow injury to enhance performance”. “35% of parents incorrectly believe that overall pitching performance would be enhanced following surgery” and 53% of college athletes incorrectly believe that pitching speed would improve following Tommy John surgery”
It’s an epidemic caused by abuse when young, not arm guards.
Cat I am aware. Especially with kids pitching in colder climates you will see them throw a lot of innings and/or pitches, which is absolutely criminal. A pitcher could throw 3 innings but one inning could have been 30 pitches if defense lets the pitcher down (which happens in youth baseball, obviously).
I believe a lot of pitchers, young pitchers up to the minor league levels and even in the big leagues, tend to go a little harder with their stuff. I can’t prove it, just a feeling. Pitchers are conditioned these days not on pitching complete games. I believe the mindset is to go hard for the 5 innings they have been given, instructed by the organization, and dominate. On the one hand innings are monitored, the other hand the pitcher is going over that 75% marker. A lot of arms still break down despite being carefully watched.
It is no coincidence the TJ’s have risen during the arm guard era. On another point, why would any baseball purist stand for the arm guards? Up until the 90’s it was rare to see one. How is protection the front arm not a different form of performance enhancing? If you don’t think arm guards help hitters with their performance then let’s just stop drug testing and let’s allow every hitting record to come down.
Batting helmets too? They weren’t used until the late 50’s. Sorry but protective gear being compared to PED’s is pure reductio ad absurdum.
Iggy for ohtani?
One of the best closer;s in the game.
Lol don’t think the entire reds starting lineup could get ohtani
Kids, don’t do drugs.
Just brutal. Angels need bullpen help