After being stranded in his native Dominican Republic for several weeks because of travel restrictions, Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez has returned to the United States, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports. Now that Dominguez is back, the Phillies expect that he’ll undergo Tommy John surgery on his torn right ulnar collateral ligament sometime soon – perhaps as early as this month – according to Gelb.
Surgery has long seemed like the probable route for Dominguez, as doctors recommended he undergo the procedure back in late March. Because Dominguez has had to wait so long since then, though, his delay in returning to a major league mound will drag on for an especially lengthy period of time. The typical Tommy John recovery takes 12 to 18 months, so he’ll miss all of this season (provided there is one) and could sit out most or all of 2021.
It has been exactly one full year since Dominguez last took the hill on June 5, 2019, after which his UCL injury cut him down. The 25-year-old concluded 2019 with 24 2/3 innings of 4.01 ERA/4.02 FIP ball and 10.58 K/9, 4.38 BB/9, and a 54.5 percent groundball rate. The flamethrowing Dominguez burst on the scene during the previous season with a 2.95 ERA/2.85 FIP, 11.48 K/9 against 3.41 BB/9, and a 55.7 percent grounder mark over 58 frames.
Cool. Maybe there will be baseball by the time he recovers in late 2021.
oh my Lord he still hasnt gotten it yet…
In fairness, he was stuck in the Dominican Republic and not allowed to come to the US because of the pandemic. I’m sure the DR is a nice place, but I don’t think it would be high on my list of places to have complicated surgery..
Kapler ruined this kid’s arm but in all honesty he’s wasted so much time not doing what needed to be done to fix it. He should have gotten the surgery to begin with and he’d be almost healed by now instead of wasting 3 years of his career.
Damn.
Asinine
Color me surprised. /s
This isn’t reddit, creep.
what, now we are angry about people being sure that others know they are being sarcastic? everyone’s a critic.
People offended by the internet shouldn’t be on it.
This should have been done two years ago. Way to go!
He lost most of last year, will miss whatever happens this season, and all of next year too! He might not even be ready for fall ball in 2021. Who mismanaged this situation so horribly between last June and this March, the player, his doc, Phillies management?
I remember when Al Leiter lost FOUR years in a row to injury during the early 90s on the Blue Jays but eventually became a workhorse starter like 10 years thereafter.
Dumb. Absolutely dumb. Who is guiding these kids?
It’s about time! This should have been done last year already. He, and management, wasted last year, this year and most likely all of next year too. Must have been Kapler’s “positive approach” at managing last year, that caused this disaster. He probably told Dominguez, you’ll be fine. You shouldn’t do the surgery.
A year too late…
Just another pitcher and team who realize surgery now may save part of 2021. However, that’s likely still too late. I wonder if other pitchers are regretting not having surgery months ago, or will they now miss 2 full seasons? Miles Mikolas?
Phillies have had a rough go at keeping bullpen arms healthy.
When transactions reopen the Phillies need to make a move for Keone Kela or Michael Givens. Their bullpen is super shaky and easily the weakest part of their roster. Their primary set up men right now are bounceback candidates in Tommy Hunter and Drew Storen. We need to pray VV can adjust to a high leverage bullpen role.
Let’s hope David Robertson is healed by beginning of August (if there is a season)