The Indians announced this afternoon that right-hander Danny Salazar will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. He’ll go 12 to 16 weeks without throwing, according to the announcement.
It’s not entirely clear what damage was found during the procedure, which was announced by the team last week to be exploratory in nature. At the time of the initial announcement, it was not clear when or if Salazar would be able to return, though today’s update provides further clarity in that regard. Presumably, the Indians will have further updates on Salazar’s shoulder prior to tonight’s game.
Salazar’s 2018 season, then, will come to a close without throwing a single pitch at the big league level. It’s a disappointing outcome for a pitcher who, at his best, has looked like one of the more talented arms in the American League. However, Salazar’s career has been punctuated by arm injuries. He’s had issues with his right arm dating back to the 2012 season in A-ball, and he’s missed time in four of the past five seasons owing to some type of arm trouble.
Last year, Salazar was limited to 103 innings by shoulder discomfort and, later in the year, inflammation in his right elbow. Cleveland moved him to the bullpen late in the season, and he was ultimately shut down for the year in mid-August.
In his peak form, Salazar has the ability to overpower opposing lineups. He’s averaged 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in the Majors, and he was among the league leaders in both xFIP and SIERA from 2014-15 (min. 200 innings). Salazar’s considerable arm troubles, though, make it unclear as to whether he’ll ever truly be able to tap into his clear front-of-the-rotation potential.
The Indians will be faced with at least somewhat of a decision in the coming offseason. Salazar agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal to avoid arbitration last offseason, and he won’t throw a single pitch in 2018. By the time he’s up for arbitration again this offseason, he’ll be more than 15 months removed from setting foot on a Major League mound. While Salazar won’t get a raise in arbitration, the typical outcome for players who miss the entire season is to agree to the same salary they had in the injury-ruined year. In other words, Salazar is likely looking at a $5MM salary for the 2019 season as well.
It still seems likely that Cleveland would simply non-tender Salazar, but that could depend largely on the information that was gathered from today’s surgery. If the rehab program is expected to cut into the 2019 season, or if the Indians simply feel his shoulder to be unlikely to ever fully recover, it’s possible that they could simply move on — be it via trade or non-tender. That scenario would be somewhat reminiscent of the Marlins’ decision to non-tender Henderson Alvarez at a similar price point a few years back, though Alvarez had undergone multiple shoulder surgeries, and the Indians don’t face the same level of payroll constraints that have handcuffed the Miami organization.
Now I know “exploratory” shoulder surgery most likely means out for season.
No joking around with shoulder injuries..
Well, it means that if they find a problem they can fix, they will fix it. If nothing had been found to be an issue, he probably could’ve been back in 3-4 weeks.
three to four weeks is still a lengthy period of time.
Do the Indians pick up a starter or reliever at the deadline?
Yes.
No need for a starter but they need a late inning reliever and another bullpen arm.
Anyone interested in a Danny Salazar autographed baseball?
I don’t see them picking up a starter with the rotation they have been running out there. With Kluber, Clevenger, Bauer and Carasco (coming back from the DL Friday) that is a solid top 4. Bieber and Plutko have done a good job filling in as the 5th starter since the injuries to Salazar and Meritt as well as the collapse of Tomlin. They have plenty of options for 5th and only need 4 max for the playoffs.
A month ago I would have said they needed 2 but Perez and Ramirez have really stabilized things. If Miller can come back healthy you have 5 solid relievers and can always bring Beiber, Plutko or even both to the postseason roster to help too. I think the only way a reliver trade happens now is it’s a minor addition that costs next to nothing or it’s a major long term piece to take Miller/Allen’s spot next year.
Major long term piece to eventually take Miller/Allen’s spot next year.
Dr. Keith Meister, team physican for the Texas Rangers, performed an arthroscopic debridement and bursectomy on Salazar’s shoulder. Dr. Meister and Dr. Mark Schickendantz, team physican for the Indians, performed the second surgery on outfielder Michael Brantley right shoulder on Aug. 15, 2016.
I didn’t know he plays for the Angels now
Indians just can’t seem to catch a break when they need it in regards to key players’ health the last few years.
Their break is that they play in the AL central and are gifted the playoffs each year.
You’re right, their tea sucks and they have no business in the payoffs…SMH…
Are you still upset about the 2016 ALCS or something?
Hehehehe
Agreed
Can’t change who’s in your division….just because the rest of the teams in there are rebuilding isn’t the Indians fault. That’s like Blue Jays fans whining about playing in same division with Yankees and Red Sox….
Salazar’s arm problems have only gotten worse with every passing year. I don’t think they’ll non-tender him after the season (CLE is notoriously slow to cut bait on chronically injured players), but that $5M they’d have to pay him plus the salary relief they’ll get when Allen, Miller, Chisenhall, Brantley, McAllister, Tomlin, Davis, etc all depart via free agency after the season could enable them to sign multiple relievers with fewer health concerns. Even though Salazar has shown flashes of brilliance, he has a history of frequent injury, slow recovery, and inconsistency when healthy. The wisest choice would be to non-tender him.
Salazar has a live arm with incredible stuff.
Unfortunately, he has had a history of arm / shoulder problems since the Indians signed him at age 17. Doubt he’ll stay healthy for any length of time. Probably belongs in the bullpen as a set-up guy. Cannot be counted on as a closer as he could go down again any day. Pitching 50-70 innings a year will extend his career – assuming he gets semi-healthy.
Pitching balls out every other night all in high pressure situations will be as exhausting if not more than 6 innings every 6th game.