Reds’ Connor Overton To Undergo Elbow Surgery

Reds righty Connor Overton had, who’s been out since mid-April due to an elbow strain, had a setback in his recovery and will undergo exploratory elbow surgery to determine the root of his troubles, manager David Bell announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via Olivia Ray of WLWT Cincinnati). Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer further adds that the surgery could very well end the righty’s season.

Overton, 29, appeared in six games for the 2022 Reds (four starts) and posted a sharp 2.73 ERA in 33 innings of work. With just an 11.3% strikeout rate and a minuscule .204 batting average on balls in play contributing to that mark, Overton never seemed likely to sustain that level of success, but he regressed far more precipitously than the Reds had anticipated through his first three starts of the current campaign.

While Overton’s velocity remained consistent with its 2022 levels, he was clobbered for 14 runs on 19 hits (three of them homers) and seven walks in just 11 innings of work. Overton actually improved his strikeout rate a bit (to 16.4%) and more than doubled his swinging-strike rate (from 6% to 12.5%), but his elbow barked after just three starts and he’ll now face a lengthy absence.

Originally a 15th-round selection by the Marlins in the 2014 draft, Overton bounced around the league on a series of minor league deals and also played with the independent Lancaster Barnstormers before landing with the Reds, his sixth affiliated organization, prior to the 2022 season. He’s posted sharp numbers in the upper minors — 2.45 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate in 91 Triple-A innings — but has yet to find much in the way of big league success. In 59 1/3 Major League innings between the Blue Jays, Pirates and Reds, he has a 4.85 ERA with a 15.7% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate. He’ll accrue big league service and pay while on the injured list, though his chances of lasting the entire 2023-24 offseason on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster take a big hit with news of this surgery.

Overton likely would’ve gotten a lengthier look in a rotation audition this season, but he’s now out of the picture for the foreseeable future. Cincinnati also subtracted veteran righty Luis Cessa from that mix when they released him last week. Overton joins lefty Nick Lodolo on the injured list, though Lodolo, who has a stress reaction in his tibia, isn’t looking at nearly as long an absence. The Reds are currently utilizing Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, rookie Brandon Williamson, journeyman Ben Lively and veteran offseason pickup Luke Weaver in the rotation. Top prospect Andrew Abbott, who’s fanned 45.3% of his opponents between Double-A and Triple-A, could get a look at some point this summer as well.