José Quijada To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Angels left-hander José Quijada will undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Phil Nevin tells reporters, including Sam Blum of The Athletic.

The news doesn’t come as a total shock, since it was reported yesterday that the lefty had some ligament damage in his elbow and was headed for a second opinion before deciding on next steps. It seems that the second opinion didn’t provide any way for Quijada to avoid his fate and he will now go under the knife. He will miss the remainder of the 2023 season and likely at least half of 2024 as well, given the typical recovery period of 14 to 18 months.

The 27-year-old began his career with the Marlins but has been an Angel since being claimed off waivers prior to the 2020 season. Overall, he has a 4.89 ERA in his career, spanning 118 major league appearances. He’s struck out 30.6% of batters faced, walked 13.8% of them and got grounders at a 35.3% clip. He’s earned some high-leverage work in that time, racking up eight saves and 26 holds.

The Halos will now have to navigate the rest of the season without Quijada and part of next year as well. They won’t be hurting for left-handers in the short term, as they have four in their starting rotation and then have Matt Moore, Aaron Loup and Tucker Davidson in the bullpen.

Quijada is already on the 15-day injured list and will be moved to the 60-day whenever the Angels need his roster spot. He’ll spend the remainder of the season there and will cross three years of service time in the process, which will allow him to qualify for arbitration for the first time this winter.