Diamondbacks right-hander Drey Jameson has been on the injured list since early July due to elbow problems, and unfortunately the 26-year-old is now facing the worst case scenario. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that Jameson will undergo a Tommy John surgery, which will almost certainly keep the pitcher out of action until Opening Day 2025.
The outcome isn’t unexpected, as Jameson was almost immediately shifted to the 60-day injured list soon after his initial 15-day IL placement, and Lovullo indicated in July that the righty’s UCL had suffered some type of damage. Jameson had been trying to work through the injury without surgery and had been on a throwing program, though that program was paused earlier this week.
Jameson now faces a much more extensive rehab process and an unfortunate stoppage in his young career. Selected 34th overall by the D’Backs in the 2019 draft, Jameson was still able to blaze a quick path to the majors even despite losing 2020 as a development year because of the pandemic. He made his Major League debut with four starts and a 1.48 ERA over 24 1/3 innings in 2022, and then battled for a starter’s job in Spring Training before opening this season in Arizona’s bullpen.
Some tough early results got him sent to Triple-A for much of May, after Jameson had been moved into the rotation to fill in for the injured Zach Davies. Jameson returned to the big league bullpen at the end of May and looked pretty sharp before his elbow injury, at least in terms of bottom-line results. Jameson had a 3.32 ERA over 40 2/3 total innings this season, with a 4.49 SIERA reflecting his below-average strikeout and walk rates, though he at least limited damage with a 45.8% grounder rate and a hefty 87% strand rate.
The TJ surgery could well factor into any future decision over Jameson’s role as a starter or reliever, though that determination will certainly wait until after he is healthy and ready to pitch. Rebuilding arm strength for a relief role isn’t quite as extensive as rehabbing to take on a starter’s workload, so there is a slim chance Jameson might be able to make it back at the very end of the 2024 regular season, but the much likelier scenario is that he’ll miss all of next season recovering.
Even if Jameson might have been a depth starter for 2024, his injury removes another arm from the Diamondbacks’ depth chart heading into the offseason. The Snakes have hung in the wild card race despite not getting much from their rotation beyond Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, leaving pitching as a question to be more fully addressed over the winter. Tommy Henry, Ryne Nelson, and Brandon Pfaadt will all be in the running to compete for rotation jobs, but Arizona will surely look to acquire at least one veteran arm. Davies could be retained on a $5.5MM mutual option, though that doesn’t seem likely to be exercised given Davies’ struggles this year.
This is ridiculous.
MLB should have a group medical plan in which they pay for 4 TJ surgeries and get one free.
This injury epidemic is as bad as steroids was.
Get rid of the radar gun readings and pitch counts and you would be amazed how the number of these would change.
That has to begin at the lowest level though. Pitchers arms are babied too much now so they can’t handle the strain over a period of time.
The second part of that is learning not to give max effort on every pitch. That is one reason guys can hardly give you five innings, plus your command often stinks when you do that every pitch so you are throwing more pitches.
Pitch smarter, not harder.
The issue is babying. The issue is that managers know that most RPs are better than using an SP the third time thru the order.
In 1963, the OPSa for the first 1st. 2nd/3rd and 4th time thru the order was .639/.680/.702/.741. The average RP was at .683. So even then, it made at least some sense to pull your SP after two rotations.
And MLB has developed BPs a lot more than 60 years ago. The 3rd time thru the order delivers a .784 OPS now. Your average RP has a .717.
Best of luck and good thoughts for Drey. He’s still very young, so hoping he comes back better and stronger.
Of course.
I think this starts in select traveling teams for kids that can throw hard for their age. These kids wind up playing in Fall leagues as well as spring thru summer.
A friend of mine’s grandson is a perfect example. He just got shut down for the second time and is scheduled for an MRI. For a sore arm throwing a baseball!
Bummer.
No Jameson. Bummer pitches for the White Sox
Pretty soon only knucklers & eephus will be allowed. We will need to move the mound back about 5-7 feet and raise it about a foot and a half. Outfield walls either way high or move the fences back to about 550 feet. The bats will have to be different, more like broom handles. Once the batter gets to a 2-1 count a blind-fold will be placed on him & he will have to listen for audibles from the 1st base coach whether to swing or take a pitch. Yes the game will be different folks but pandemic level TJ’s will be eliminated from the sport entirely. It has to be done. The sport can easily assimilate these changes , just like with the pitch clock. Easy peasy, problem solved.