Rays reliever J.P. Feyereisen underwent surgery to repair the rotator cuff and labrum in his shoulder yesterday, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be shut down from throwing for at least four months, meaning he’s certain to begin the 2023 campaign on the injured list.
Shoulder issues have plagued Feyereisen dating back to the early summer. He landed on the IL in early June with what was initially diagnosed as an impingement, then battled renewed discomfort while attempting to rehab in early September. He was shut down for the 2022 season, and that unfortunately didn’t keep him from needing to go under the knife.
With a four-month shutdown coming out of surgery, Feyereisen will not have picked up a ball by the time the regular season gets underway. Even in the most optimistic scenario, he’ll need weeks from that point forward to gradually build back strength and work his way into game shape before he can head out on a minor league rehab assignment. He’s likely to miss multiple months, with Topkin suggesting the injury could keep him out of action until after the All-Star Break.
It’s a tough blow to the Rays’ bullpen, as Feyereisen has quietly been a dominant middle-innings arm for skipper Kevin Cash. Acquired from the Brewers alongside Drew Rasmussen in the 2021 blockbuster that landed Willy Adames in Milwaukee, the right-hander has provided 61 innings of 1.48 ERA ball in a Tampa Bay uniform. He didn’t allow a single earned run in 22 appearances totaling 24 1/3 frames this past season, and while he surely wouldn’t have maintained that pace over a full season, he posted excellent underlying marks. Feyereisen struck out 29.1% of opponents while walking a meager 5.8% of batters faced, generating swinging strikes on a massive 16.4% of his total pitches.
Feyereisen turns 30 in February. He has over two years of major league service time, and he won’t reach arbitration until the end of next season. He’ll collect service time and a salary around the MLB minimum while rehabbing. Feyereisen will remain on the Rays’ 40-man roster throughout the winter, but they can clear a spot at the start of Spring Training by placing him on the 60-day IL.
He’ll be shut down more than 4 months for labrum and rotator.
They’ll be lucky if he pitches at all for them prior to the all-Star break.
Hope he returns to form after healing. He was doing alright for the Rays.
Good relief pitcher.
Tampa can make anyone a good pitcher. It just seems that hitting in recent seasons has been an issue. Defense is good too.
TB Rays were numbertwo scoring offense in MLB 2021
Losing approx 1000 PAs in 2022 from their top three 2021 producers dropped them to 21st. Having those men healthy in 2023 portends a possible return into the top third
Their likely prevalent offseason moves will virtually all be aimed at making their pitching even deeper so they can have their sixth consecutive season w Top5 or better ERA in MLB
I wasn’t quite sure about specifics, but the general idea seems to be Tampa’s pitching outperforms it’s hitting.
MLB should allow 40 man roster exemptions during the off-season for players with a proven serious injury that will force them to miss significant time in the upcoming season, with a requirement that those players must begin the next season on the 60 Day IL and must miss at least the first 60 days of the season. All it would really take would be turning medicals over to the league’s doctors when requesting for the exemption. I’ve never understood why teams with seriously injured players have to use roster spots for them during the off-season when they won’t even be ready to play when the next season begins…
I understand where youre coming from but I think teams would be generally against that because it would raise overall team salaries. A team would have 40 players plus their injured players all making major league esque salaries.
That aside, you’d need to limit the number of 60 day spots or teams with lots of cash would just hoard injured players and wait for their return.
You don’t make a major league salary by being on the 40 man. You get a pay bump but it’s nothing that a ML organization can’t handle.
You also only need 26 men. It’s off season let not give GMs more tools to push that up higher. Let players on the fringe be free agents and find a home where they can ascend to the 40 quicker
Rays will claim someone off waivers and find someone even better. It’s the Rays.
Why did he wait if shut down in September?
I presume because it was misdiagnosed as an impingement for which he underwent rehab in September. Probably rehabbed for at least a few weeks and when it didn’t improve they did additional testing. I think the way it’s written makes the time frame seem shorter than it was.
The plan was the Shane Mac treatment but it never panned out.