The Mariners are dealing with a rash of significant pitching injuries, as relayed by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times (Twitter links one, two and three). Right-hander Penn Murfee will undergo season-ending surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament. Meanwhile, pitching prospect Taylor Dollard will undergo season-ending labrum surgery. Additionally, lefty Marco Gonzales will be shut down for two weeks due to nerve issues in his elbow.
The news is a very unfortunate development for Murfee, who has been a strong presence in Seattle’s bullpen over the past two years. He debuted last season with a 2.99 ERA in 69 1/3 innings, striking out 27.9% of opponents against a 6.6% walk rate. This year, he’s struggled with control but nonetheless dropped his ERA to 1.29. He twice landed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and will now have to go under the knife.
It’s not exactly clear exactly what kind of surgery Murfee will require, but he’s sure to face a significant absence either way. Full ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, also known as Tommy John surgery, typical requires 14 to 18 months of recovery time. Even the internal brace alternative usually requires close to a year. That means that, in addition to missing the remainder of the 2023 season, Murfee will miss a chunk of the 2024 campaign as well.
Dollard, 24, is also set to miss the remainder of this year, though his timeline beyond that isn’t clear. He was selected by the Mariners in the fifth round of the 2020 draft and pitched in the lower levels of the club’s system in 2021. Last year, he posted a 2.25 ERA in Double-A, striking out 22.9% of opponents against a 5.4% walk rate. He figured to serve as rotation depth this year but made just three starts in Triple-A before landing on the injured list.
As for Gonzales, his timeline is still up in the air but he’s already been on the injured list for over three weeks and will now be shut down for two more. Even if he’s given a clean bill of health at that time, he’ll need to ramp back up after such a long layoff, which will push his theoretical return further down the line.
He posted a 5.22 ERA before landing on the IL but a 62.1% strand rate was likely pushing that up. His peripherals were roughly in line with his previous seasons and his 4.29 FIP suggests he may have deserved better results. The lefty may not be an ace but has a serviceable 4.02 ERA dating back to his 2018 breakout campaign.
The Mariners have some rotation challenges with Robbie Ray and Easton McGee both out for the year and Chris Flexen now designated for assignment. Bryce Miller has cooled off after a red hot start while Bryan Woo has a 5.09 ERA thus far. With Gonzales now unlikely to be available for a while, it could impact the club’s approach to the deadline. Their 38-39 record has them fourth in the American League West but just four games back of a Wild Card spot.
This is because he doesn’t spell his last name correctly. Dude, it’s MURPHY!
Lol, no it’s murfee
Uh, it was a joke.
McMurphy is another jokester
How it goes for mid-market teams. Everything went right last year, nothing goes right this year.
That’s too bad
Bad news for Mariners. Pitching was their strength.
Will the bats stay strong? Stay tuned.
I wonder what the difference is between ucl surgery and TJS.
both are bad, avenger. Season ending, so for me one is as bad as the other. The difference is purely technical.
It should be. It’s literally the same thing. Tommy John IS UCL surgery.
In Tommy John, the replace a piece of ligament taken from another spot.
With Murfee they are just tryng to fix it.
TJ is one type of UCL surgery, and there are other types that are less severe. The article says it isn’t clear what he is having. Sometimes they don’t decide until during the surgery.
It’s the same thing.
“Uh, can we maybe un-DFA Chris Flexen? It was just a prank, bro!”
get use to it the M’s are mired in mediocracy, the pitching was a strength which was carrying the load while the hitting was scuttling. neither one is strong enough to carry the other now. So what’s up with that? The hitting does not have enough contact hitters that’s why were seeing to many opportunities for scoring go poorly. Last nights game was an example of that. Over, and over again we see this. While it’s true there are different veritable, chemistry, and of course luck to consider I only see three in the lineup I’m going to keep Julio, France, and Crawford the others are fruit that has not ripen yet or have not contributed enough, Enough already you’re simply going to have to think better on how to get better.
As for the pitching we now only have one dependable starter in the rotation, and it’s not the million dollar man but also those replacements they show inconsistent potential that not always going to carry the mail. The best you can hope for is that those injured can get back as soon as possible though that not looking so good. There going forward into unchartered waters Mariners fans.
“As for the pitching we now only have one dependable starter in the rotation”. Are you watching these games? Gilbert, Kirby and Miller have been solid and dependable. Each has had a couple blowup, but for the most part pitched very well. They all continue to rack up quality starts. That show’s consistency and maturity. I’m jacked about about all these starters. Even Castillo is young. Watch out!