May 16: The A’s announced Thursday that Waldichuk’s surgery repaired his flexor tendon and also reconstructed his left ulnar collateral ligament (in other words, Tommy John surgery). As we’ve seen with increasing frequency in recent months, Waldichuk opted for a hybrid Tommy John/internal brace procedure in hopes of prolonging the lifespan of his new elbow ligament. He’ll miss the remainder of the 2024 season and likely be sidelined for the bulk of the first half of the 2025 campaign.
May 13: Athletics left-hander Ken Waldichuk is slated for elbow surgery on Wednesday, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com on X, though the club is not providing any details until after the procedure. Additionally, the club is going to select right-hander Aaron Brooks to start Wednesday’s contest, per Gallegos on X. Brooks isn’t on the 40-man roster and will need to be added.
The A’s announced in December that Waldichuk was going through a non-surgical rehab for a strained left flexor tendon and sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. That news came from out of the blue, as the lefty did not spend any time on the injured list in 2023, making 22 starts and 13 relief appearances. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list when the club signed Scott Alexander in February.
Waldichuk tried ramping up a throwing program in April but didn’t seem to make much progress there. Gallegos relayed on X last week that the lefty would be seeing Dr. Neal ElAttrache today. It seems the renowned surgeon recommended that Waldichuk go under the knife, though the full extent of the procedure won’t be publicly known for a few more days.
Since Waldichuk had a UCL sprain, it seems fair to speculate that he may be in line for Tommy John surgery, which would obviously be bad news for him and the club. Acquired from the Yankees as part of the 2022 Frankie Montas trade, Waldichuk has tossed 175 2/3 innings at the big league level since that deal. His 5.28 earned run average in that time wasn’t especially impressive but his 21% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 39% ground ball rate were all close to league averages.
The club surely hoped he could progress towards even better results going forward. He tossed 95 innings in the minors in 2022, most of it in Triple-A, with a 2.84 ERA, 34.5% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. Now it seems possible that 2024 could be a lost season, rather than one that saw him take a step up as a major league pitcher. He’s currently on pace to qualify for arbitration after 2025 and reach free agency after 2028.
Waldichuk is one of several Oakland starters currently on the injured list. Freddy Tarnok, Luis Medina, Joe Boyle and Paul Blackburn are also on the shelf, with Blackburn landing there earlier today due to a stress reaction of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. Gallegos relays that Blackburn will be in a walking boot for at least two weeks, making his future timeline unclear.
Alex Wood is also battling a shoulder injury, though it’s not yet clear if he will go on the injured list as well. If he does end up missing time, the rotation will be left with just Ross Stripling and JP Sears as its consistent members. Joey Estes was recently recalled and made one decent start, allowing one earned run in five innings, though he had a 6.04 ERA in Triple-A before being recalled.
To help bolster that group, the A’s will call upon the 34-year-old Brooks. Signed to a minor league deal in the winter, Brooks has made eight Triple-A starts this year with a 4.57 ERA. His 16.8% strikeout rate isn’t strong but he has walked just 5.3% of hitters who have stepped to the plate while getting grounders on 49.6% of balls in play.
The righty has 180 innings of majors league experience under his belt, though he’s a few years removed from most of it. He appeared for the Royals, A’s and Orioles over the 2014-2019 period before spending 2020 and 2021 with the Kia Tigers in the KBO. He posted a 2.79 ERA in Korea and then came back to North America to sign with the Cardinals for 2022. He pitched just 9 1/3 innings that year with a 7.71 ERA before getting outrighted off the roster.
He spent last year with the Padres on a minor league deal, posting a 4.95 ERA for that club’s Triple-A team. He then got a minor league deal with the A’s, which has led to this week’s return to the big leagues.
Welp, make that 16, YTD, assuming it’s the Tommy John variety.
Good arm, if only he would have stayed healthy
The story of many a pitcher.
Automatic loss
It’s too bad A’s Waldichuk needs elbow surgery. Hopefully, he will recover and come back to be the ultimate talented performer he is…
Aaron Brooks? Is that really what we’re down to? He was horrible with the Cubs like 7 years ago. Where’s he been since then, The Peace Corp?
He didn’t pitch for the Cubs. Only MLB teams were Royals, A’s, Orioles, Cardinals.
But I agree, the A’s have no MLB ready pitchers that are not hurt. Probably why Woods is still in the rotation.
He was with the Cubs in 2016. Reading is a skill. Just click on his name and hit seasons. I know lame when I’ve seen it in Chicago.
I thought he was with the Saints
“Cubs in 2016..reading is a skill”…Baseball-reference.com doesn’t show Aaron Brooks ever pitched for the Chicago Cubs and suggests he didn’t pitch for any Big League club in 2016. The only “Chi” reference came when I clicked on “minor league seasons”.
I did the same thing, and doubled check before I posted because of the trolls that will jump on your comments. Too many keyboard punks.
Probably won’t determine if it’s full TJS or UCL brace or both until the doc goes in. Speedy recovery!
I remember yankee fans being so upset they lost this dude.
Those greasy troglodyte fans are so temperamental. Temperamental and greasy. As well as stupid.
There were a lot of questions marks surrounding the future of the Yankees rotation at the time of that trade. Waldichuk looked like he had the makings of a quality lefty SP so the concerns were warranted. Now the Yankees seem to produce multiple quality pitching prospects every year. Unfortunately for Waldichuck, things haven’t panned out but then again, neither did Montas in New York
JP Sears has been solid and on a better team, probably a decent, 4./5 starter.
Roses are red
Brent Rooker has power
The A’s should sign Trevor Bauer
The Montas and Gallo trade should have gotten Cashman fired
?
He was correcting the last line of your poem, I believe.
Too bad that doesn’t rhyme
“Montas and Gallo”…Definitely. Especially when just a simple Google search would have revealed Montas was almost certainly not healthy when acquired. I think Brian Cashman uses tarrot cards and Ouija boards instead of due diligence scouting and medical research.
He’s too busy having absurdly rough *** with chicanas in Mexico. Since you literally blow him everyday, I’ll compliment you on your throat of steel. You can clearly go all day. How does feel being a grown man obsessing over someone who literally could careless about your actual existence? Do you obsess over other public figures as well? Genuinely curious
Harambe, and the A’s should trade Brent Rooker to the Mariners.
What would a Waldichuk do if a Waldichuk could chuck a ball?
“Could Chuck a ball”…Fox in sox with locks and box sir. Chicks with bricks and sticks and clocks sir.
Joey Estes with one “DECENT” start of 5 innings and 1 run. Yep, Nobody in baseball wants a 5 inning 1 run start, huh?
Would love to find out how many pitchers reached 10 years in MLB service prior to 25 years ago, and how the rate has changed in recent years.
I surmise that there are more pitchers now making it to 10 years than pre-1999. There are better medical and prognosis for injuries today. Players before pitched until their arms fell off and there were very little solutions available to fix them. Teams signing rehabbing pitchers were unheard of then. No internet so injured players often fell off the radar and we forgot about them.
Highly doubt it. And when I mean prior to 25 years ago it’s anyone who began their career after 1999. So guys who pitched after 1999 like a Maddux or Clemens would be prior to 1999.
Bet more relievers hit the 10 year than starters. Nothing to do so called solutions and more to do with how baseball want hitters to dominate.
Pitch clock. Thanks Manfraud.
Paging James Kaprelian. Pick up Line 1 please.
Here’s hoping he learns to throw with his right arm during his downtime…because he stunk throwing left handed.
Aaron Brooks is still kicking around? whoa, we are running out of non TJ arms aren’t we? where’s Tommy Milone these days?
How much wood can a Waldichuk chuck?
Drafting Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith with the 4th Pick is looking more Promising now.