Padres right-hander Luis Patiño underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The righty will miss the remainder of 2024 and some part of 2025 as well.
Patiño, 24, began the season on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. It seems that subsequent testing revealed the need for surgery. Given the typical 14-18 month recovery range for Tommy John procedures, he will miss the remainder of this year and a significant chunk of 2025 as well.
It’s yet another setback for a pitcher who was once a top prospect. Patiño came up as a Padres prospect and was on Baseball America’s top 100 list in three straight years from 2019 to 2021, being in the top 25 in the latter two. He had a 2.35 earned run average in 234 innings in the minors from 2017 to 2019, striking out 29.4% of batters faced while walking just 8.4%. The Friars called him up in 2020 and he posted a 5.19 ERA in 17 1/3 innings, though he was only 20 years old at that time.
Going into 2021, he was traded to the Rays as part of the Blake Snell deal, going to Tampa alongside Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox. He tossed 77 1/3 innings in his first season for the Rays, with a 4.31 ERA in that time. His 22.2% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate were fairly average, but not a bad outcome for a pitcher who was only 21 years old and in his first extended look at the big leagues.
But in 2022, an oblique strain cost him more than three months. He was only able to pitch 20 innings on the year and had a bloated ERA of 8.10 in that time. Last year, he was kept mostly in the minors and showcased significant command woes. In 45 1/3 innings for Triple-A Durham, he walked 13.4% of batters and posted a 6.75 ERA.
He went to the White Sox in a cash deal just before the trade deadline and his struggles continued. His 17 2/3 innings in the majors were passable, with a 3.57 ERA. But in 14 1/3 Triple-A innings after the deal, he walked a massive 20.3% of batters faced.
He exhausted his final option year and the Sox designated him for assignment in December. The Padres claimed him off waivers, bringing him back to his original organization. Unfortunately, he’s now facing a significant layoff as he recovers from his surgery.
Amid all of these twists and turns, it’s easy to forget that Patiño is still incredibly young. Though he’s bounced around the league for years and is now out of options, he’s younger than some top prospects who haven’t even made it to the big leagues yet, such as Will Warren or Christian Scott. He still has time to get himself back on track, though he obviously has a long recovery ahead of him now.
If there’s a silver lining in this for Patiño, it’s that he’s already on the major league injured list. He’ll eventually be transferred to the 60-day variety whenever the Padres need his roster spot, collecting big league pay and service time for the whole year. He’ll cross the three-year service mark this season and will be eligible for arbitration this winter, though he’ll be a non-tender candidate given his health status.
Padres scored a win with that Blake Snell trade, one of the few losses for Tampa. That sucks for this young man. Maybe the procedure will take him to the next level, he’ll still be young so maybe even the Padres work out a deal with him.
According to many galaxy brains on this site both teams lost that trade because they didn’t win the World Series.
I remember when that trade first went down. Thought the Rays would win that one by a landslide. It’s ended up in the opposite direction though.
If I’m Tommy John, I’m figuring out a way to start collecting royalties.
I’d also get a lawyer to sue for others using the name “Tommy John” on their men’s underwear. Lol.
Comfortable drawers
Who isn’t having Tommy John surgery anymore?
Me. But I swear that clicking in my elbow needs to be looked at.
It’s on my bucket list. I’ve already checked off knee, flexor tendon, and lumbar spine.
Another Rays product undergoing Tommy John. They need to quit with the maximum spin rate being preached over there or else anyone who goes through their system is going to need it and the few free agents they do attract will quickly run the other way for fear of blowing out their arm. SABRmetrics and these scientific/computer-driven theories on training are ruining the game almost as much as Manfred.
As a Rays fan, I completely agree! Their conditioning also seems to be nonexistent is positional players are also dropping like flies. Even in the minors now.
I was pulling for Patiño to make the staff this year, but it’d be a similar feel-good story if he comes back strong and contributes next year!
More likely in 2026.
Didn’t Patino already have this surgery like a year ago? He was supposed to be a great pitcher and he just never gets footing with all these injuries.
Nope. Not Tommy John specifically.
I know a fairly recent Cy Young winner who pitched 7 and a third scoreless in Mexico last sunday who is not on the mend from TJS that they could sign right now for the league minimum…
It was funny watching the highlights of him looking pissed off while he mowed down washed up minor league hitters. It’s like he’s in Purgatory on Earth.
No one wants him… that’s why he is pitching in other countries.
I’m saying he *should* be pitching here
Kenny Powers, aka ‘La Flama Blanca’?
You know him or know of him? Just curious
The question depends on how well one knows oneself. Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati zoo that Bauer even paid tribute to on his cleats while playing for the Reds…
cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2023/05/26/when…
Yeah I’d say this poster is the one and only former big league pitcher who at one time had the highest salary for a starting pitcher.
I’m less impressed by winning a CY in a 2 month season then I am by his numbers the following year with the Dodgers. 1.6 HR/9 (19 in 107.2 IP) yet a 2.59 era. I wonder if a starting pitcher has ever had given up homers at that rate with such a small era?
He knows him in the biblical sense?
Another day , another pitcher getting TJ surgery
It’s Trevor’s burner account