Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo revealed today that right-handers Thyago Vieira and Josh Winder will both require Tommy John surgery, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Both righties had been in camp as non-roster invitees but each will now miss the entire 2025 season.
Vieira, 32, was claimed off waivers from the Orioles in June. The following month, the Snakes put him back on waivers and passed him through unclaimed. He was invited to big league camp and could have earned his way back into the majors. However, that clearly won’t come to pass now.
The righty debuted in the majors back in 2017. He pitched in Japan from 2020 to 2022 but was in each major league season around that. He has 66 2/3 big league innings pitched in the majors between the Mariners, White Sox, Brewers, Orioles and Diamondbacks. He has a 5.81 earned run average, 20.8% strikeout rate and 13.1% walk rate. He’ll turn 33 in January of 2026 as he approaches the one-year anniversary of this surgery.
Winder, 28, was a promising prospect not too long ago but injuries have derailed him in recent years. In 2021, he posted a 2.63 ERA across 14 minor league starts. Baseball America ranked him the #6 prospect in Minnesota’s system going into 2022.
Despite the solid results, shoulder issues cropped up in 2021 which impacted him for the next few years. He spent time on the minor league injured list due to shoulder injuries in each season from 2021 to 2023. Last year, he was on the major league IL for the first couple of months of the campaign due to a scapular stress fracture.
Around those shoulder issues, Winder tossed 110 2/3 major league innings from 2022 through 2024, posting a 4.39 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate. But he was mostly kept in the minors after getting healthy last year and had a 6.15 ERA at the Triple-A level, pitching mostly in relief. The Twins outrighted him off the roster at season’s end.
He elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks, presumably hoping for a fresh start with a new club. Instead, he’ll have to spend the rest of the year rehabbing with an eye on returning at some point in 2026. He’ll celebrate his 29th birthday this coming October. Since neither Winder nor Vieira had a 40-man roster spot, they won’t collect service time for the upcoming season.
For the Snakes, they have a strong relief group overall, something that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a detailed look at. These injuries will deprive them of some non-roster depth, though there are still many unsigned pitchers who could be brought aboard as reinforcements. As Opening Day nears, other guys will also shake loose as clubs make their final camp cuts.
As a dbacks fan this is good in a bad way Maybe it will force them to get David. I feel bad for those guys but we need one more veteran in the pen.
sorry Takerback, but I disagree that we need Robertson. And I disagree that these two injuries will force the Dbacks to do anything. They are both depth only and Dbacks can get more depth in the form of signing roster cuts toward the end of ST to minor league contracts, rather than spending in excess of $10M for David Robertson, who at age 40 is not even a marginal upgrade over in-house candidates for the final bullpen slot.
Remember, the Dbacks will probably keep at least 1 of Nelson/Montgomery/Pfaadt (one of them will be starter #5). Plus Jameson looks pretty strong at this point. Kyle Nelson looks rusty so far, but was valuable and reliable in the recent past. Etc. Etc. So Dbacks have plenty of legitimate relievers to choose from for that last bullpen slot, and lots of strong depth candidates.
Hey listen I totally get it. It could mean absolutely nothing. But what is definitely true is we need more depth. To many injuries and uncertainty that happens. Having a veteran like David would be huge. The injuries probably won’t force their hand but it’s possible. It’s ridiculous to think Guys like we have will stay healthy all year. Especially with the injuries we had with them.
Takerback
In 2024, which was about an average year for a team’s pitching depth needs, the Diamondbacks used 11 starters and 19 relievers. So let’s say the Dbacks need that much depth in 2025.
The 11 starters part is pretty easy because we have 7 high quality starters, plus guys like Yilber Diaz, Yu-Min Lin, Blake Walston, Cristian Mena, Tommy Henry, etc. That’s 12 right there and with the 7 top guys, these other 5 will probably need to absorb fewer starts, and/or will need fewer than 11 in 2025.
For relievers, there are 9 relievers on the 40 man roster, plus 1 or both of the starters who aren’t the #5 starter will probably be used in relief. So that’s 10 right there. (Martinez, Puk, Ginkel, Mantiply, Thompson, Graveman, Jameson, Jarvis, Kyle Nelson, and Montgomery/Nelson/Pfaadt). There are 5 or 6 NRI for depth (Arendt, Backus, Brigham McGough, Conor Grammes and Shelby Miller), plus a couple of Top 30 prospect relievers (Landon Sims and Spencer Geisting), and the depth starters listed above often double as long relievers in the bullpen. So the depth already exists. And I maintain that spending $10M plus on a depth piece is totally unnecessary.
@Scott Giesting has been a starter. What makes you think he’ll be a reliever in 2025?
These back-to-back Tommy John surgeries aren’t random—they’re symptoms of a flawed pitching depth philosophy. Arizona’s bullpen won’t reach its full potential unless they rethink how they build it.
Old York
Neither Vieira nor Winder are products of the organization, they were both acquired recently. So you can’t claim there is a flawed organizational philosophy here. Nor is it legitimate to claim that the Dbacks philosophy of claiming or signing relievers is flawed. Every team has depth pieces as well as roster pitchers who undergo TJS. There is no epidemic of TJS exclusive to the Dbacks. That is simply not true.
Scottaz, let’s break this down using only data and facts.
Arizona’s Recent Pitching Acquisitions Have Injury Risks
Thyago Vieira (signed Dec. 2023) had only 21 career MLB innings before 2024, spending years overseas.
Josh Winder (claimed off waivers Jan. 2024) had multiple prior shoulder issues in Minnesota.
Eduardo Salazar (waivers, Dec. 2023) and Carlos Vargas (trade, Nov. 2022) also had control/injury concerns.
Arizona is targeting high-variance, injury-prone pitchers rather than durable, proven relievers.
Tommy John Surgery Is Not Just Random Bad Luck
Since 2020, Arizona ranks among the highest in cumulative pitcher IL days.
2023 alone: Merrill Kelly (calf, blood clot), Mark Melancon (shoulder), Joe Mantiply (shoulder), Drey Jameson (UCL), Corbin Martin (lat/UCL).
Arizona’s rehab success rate on pitchers has been inconsistent.
This suggests a pattern of acquiring or developing pitchers with durability concerns rather than isolated incidents.
League-Wide Comparison (TJS & Depth Strategy)
Every team faces Tommy John surgeries, but not all teams rely on waiver claims and high-risk depth.
Example: The Dodgers and Rays use a mix of high-upside prospects and veteran depth with more stability.
Arizona’s bullpen ERA ranked 21st in MLB in 2023 (4.47), meaning their approach isn’t delivering elite results.
Conclusion:
It’s not about an “epidemic” of Tommy John surgeries exclusive to Arizona—it’s about a roster-building approach that repeatedly brings in pitchers with durability concerns. If this trend continues, expect more IL stints and inconsistent bullpen performance.
Old York might be an AI Chatbox that hasn’t worked out any of the kinks yet.
OldYork
I think you should factor into last year’s bullpen performance the fact that starting pitchers were injured, replacements were not effective, etc., therefore extra strain was placed on the bullpen, and that was a major factor in their abysmal performance. You can’t use selective “facts” to prove your point.
2 NRIs from the same camp getting tommy john is nuts.
Lawlar and Yilber Diaz for Helsley and Matz makes sense
Makes sense to who?
Hard “NO” from Dbacks.
Dbacks don’t trade multiple years of control away for 1 year remtals. And Dbacks don’t take on big sunk value contracts.. and Dbacks certainly don’t need a starting pitcher when we already have 7 better than the Cards trash overpays.
@Youjustmadethatup didn’t say ‘good’ sense.
Counteroffer: Winder and Vieira for Helsley and $8M
That really sucks for those two guys. Viera has had a cool comeback story to the majors. and Winder is someone who is trying to prove himself and make it back to the bigs
What does “DNA’d” mean?
On “Kiss your sister” Night in MLB
Dbacks 3 – Reds 3
Tigers 7 – Rays 7
Yankees 7 – Phillies 7
Angels 4 – Cubs 4
and
Nats 2 – Braves…oops just scored in the 8th, now 3