MARCH 16,10:27pm: Elias has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John surgery, per Divish, who adds that the Mariners have offered him a two-year minor league contract to keep him in the organization as he recovers.
4:06pm:: Elias will undergo surgery, Divish tweets. Further details aren’t yet available.
MARCH 14: Mariners left-hander Roenis Elías suffered a serious injury to his throwing forearm/elbow, manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Corey Brock of the Athletic and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). He’s slated to undergo further evaluation.
With any serious injury to a pitcher’s forearm and/or elbow, one tends to fear a potential Tommy John surgery. There’s no specific indication that procedure (or any other) is yet on the table in Elías’ case. Nevertheless, it’s clear he won’t be an option to start the season and could seemingly be out an extended period of time.
Elías most recently pitched for Seattle between 2018-19, even serving as the team’s closer for part of the latter season. He was traded to the Nationals at the 2019 deadline but was limited to three innings with Washington by injuries. The 32-year-old then missed the entire 2020 season with a flexor strain in his elbow. Elías returned to the Mariners on a minor league deal in January after demonstrating improved health in an offseason showcase. Unfortunately, it seems he’s now in for another injury-related absence.
Oh no
Ohtani is going to be the Angels ACE as long as he stays healthy. The same can be said of every other teams ACE. Ohtani as looked every bit as good as anyone in baseball on the mound and in the batters box this spring. In 2018 he had a terrible spring, and won ROY. He had a good spring this year so the sky is the limit…
That’s nice…what does that have to do with this post?
Love this reply
I think “Oh”, made him think of Ohtani.
But on Ohtani, I doubt he’ll get to 100 innings, my guess is he’ll get around 75. If he’s the Angels ace, the Angels are in real trouble.
The Angels. LOL
Is being the ace of the Angels really any better than say, being the ace of the Pirates?
All it would mean is that he was able to make 16 starts while everyone else made 15…
No I don’t think Francisco Lindor will sign an extension with the Mets.
He has an ERA this spring over 13?
dang this guy is unlucky
And yet MLB continues to count number of pitches, etc. Ever since that became a thing, put her injuries have tripled. Although there are other factors too, back when guys woukd throw 130 – 150 pitches there were fewer days on the DL (IL).
Pitcher injuries have tripled? Citation, please.
Also, pitchers are throwing harder than before, and there are very few easy outs in any lineup.
I said there were other factors. I did my own study covering 1976 – 2019. I have access to some data from my days working with MLB. But another caveat is that pitchers didn’t always admit to arm soreness until it became untenable because you just didn’t do that back in the day.
Some of the contributing factors happen long before the majors and overuse certainly is still an issue. After each outing on the mound, there can be up to a 10-degree loss of glenohumeral internal rotation, losses in hip mobility and ankle stability, just to name a few. It goes without saying that if you don’t perform proper maintenance and don’t rest adequately between outings, you will experience a loss in total range of motion. This not only compromises movement patterns but also increases the risk of injury as well. Note: Many times, there are no warning signs of fatigue but if you know what to look for, fatigue can present itself in a lot of ways. I’m a fan of a 6-man rotation, but allowing more pitches per start.
Thank you for the thorough and thoughtful replies. If your study is public, I would be interested in reading it.
Right?
Although I’d probably just rather ask him tons of questions. This is one of the most interesting posts I’ve seen here. Had to read it twice & consult the Google.
Why 6 man & higher pitch counts, @rememberthecoop?
Another possible job created, another potential long term injury and still no motivation by baseball to help alleviate the problem.
Pitchers should consider wearing the elbow brace that has been around for a few years if they think it can help. Since it’s ok to allow hitters to be protected to the point of cheating, let the pitchers do whatever is necessary to stay healthy. Long overdue for baseball to address the health on the mound. Way overdue.
if it were that easy a problem to solve it would have been done by now
Not really. MLB has done nothing to address the problem and it’s a glaring problem. Not a single idea or potential change has benefitted the pitcher.
So no, it would not be done.
I guess we can’t type ERA or RBI anymore either
Or AB or BB or HR or…
Or K or WRC or FIP, Etc. Etc. Etc!
Well Thomar, I’d reply to that guy above with FU
Trade for LHSP Matthew Boyd who is from Washington State.
Lars, WTF? Stands for “Why Type Foolishness”,…FYI, which stands for “Find Your Intelligence”…
So, “MLB” needs to be spelled out? If you read “AL West”, you assume it’s Mr. Alvin West?
C’mon dude, you need more fiber in your diet. You need good BM (Baseball Mastery).
Not hard to figure out why Lars is always running.
They dont usually come out and say words like “serious” or “severe” outright. Indicates to me that hes going to need TJ. Especially after his flexor strain last year.
rough
Why offer him a two year minor league contract? Why do they need to keep him? Especially at his age. It didn’t work out. Move on
Why not sign him to a minor league deal? Obviously the team likes him more than just a player and there is mutual respect. If he can rehab the injury he can be a valuable bullpen piece.
The two-year contract is out of respect since he continues to come back here time and time again. I believe this is his third tour here in Seattle. I’d love to see him come back. I think he would be an effective starter and a very good long man out of the bullpen. He’s shown that he can close too
We won’t be in the same situation two years from now. We won’t need him. No disrespect to him at all. There are going to be plenty of better options at that point in time