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Ben Lively To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald | May 23, 2025 at 2:34pm CDT

Guardians right-hander Ben Lively will undergo Tommy John surgery and a flexor tendon repair, the team announced. The righty is expected to miss 12 to 16 months. That means he’ll miss the remainder of the 2025 season and maybe all of ’26 as well. He’s already on the 15-day injured list and will be moved to the 60-day IL whenever Cleveland needs his 40-man roster spot.

“Earlier this week, RHP Ben Lively sought a second opinion on his injured right elbow with Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX,” the club’s statement reads. “Dr. Meister confirmed the presence of a flexor tendon injury while also noting medial elbow joint laxity due to an insufficient ulnar collateral ligament. Both team physicians and Dr. Meister believe the joint laxity is placing added stress on the flexor muscles and have recommended UCL reconstruction along with flexor tendon repair. No surgical date has been set but is expected in the coming days with Dr. Meister. Return to play timeframes in similar cases are 12-16 months.”

Lively was unexpectedly tabbed as Cleveland’s Opening Day starter this season after an illness ruled Tanner Bibee out for that assignment. The 33-year-old didn’t have a great outing, surrendering three runs over five innings in Kansas City. However, he has arguably been Cleveland’s best starting pitcher through the season’s first month and a half. After posting a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings a year ago, he worked to a 3.22 mark across nine starts this year. He’s up to nearly 200 innings with a 3.68 ERA in a Cleveland uniform since signing for a modest $750K as a free agent during the 2023-24 offseason.

It has been the most successful stretch of Lively’s big league tenure. He’d spent parts of two seasons apiece as a depth starter with the Phillies and Royals early in his career. He then pitched in Korea for three seasons before returning stateside with the Reds in 2022. Lively allowed 5.38 earned runs per nine with Cincinnati and was waived at the end of that year. Cleveland saw enough to give him a major league contract, and they were rewarded with generally solid results until he left the mound with forearm pain during a start against the Brewers last week.

There’s a decent chance this will end his Guardians tenure. Lively is playing this season on a $2.25MM contract after qualifying for arbitration for the first time. He’d be due a slight raise next year if tendered a contract. The Guardians will need to decide whether to offer him something in the $3MM range to spend most or all of next season rehabbing, then pay a similar salary for a hopefully healthy ’27 campaign. He’d be nearing his 35th birthday at that point. Lively doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, so the team may feel they can more cheaply replace his production and non-tender him.

In the short term, it’s a hit to an already questionable starting staff. Cleveland starters rank 19th in both ERA and strikeout rate. They’re 23rd in innings pitched. Lively led the group in ERA. Slade Cecconi, who was acquired from the Diamondbacks for Josh Naylor over the winter, was activated from his own IL stint on Saturday to take Lively’s rotation spot. He worked five innings of three-run ball in his team debut. He slots behind Bibee, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz and Logan Allen for the time being. Shane Bieber and John Means are potential second-half reinforcements as they work back from their own UCL procedures.

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Cleveland Guardians Ben Lively

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View Comments (19)
Post a Comment

19 Comments

  1. tigers182

    5 months ago

    Dang. Not a good year for that family. His sister Blake in shambles.

    7
    Reply
    • YankeesBleacherCreature

      5 months ago

      She just lost one of her besties in Taylor (and Travis). I wouldn’t recover from that.

      5
      Reply
      • Acoss1331

        5 months ago

        Ryan Reynolds has entered the chat!

        3
        Reply
    • Bucket Number Six

      5 months ago

      Blake will have to go in for more plastic surgery.

      1
      Reply
    • Ignorant Son-of-a-b

      5 months ago

      Oh are we turning into a bunch of teenage gossip mongerers now I see ?? /s

      1
      Reply
  2. dixoncayne

    5 months ago

    That was a quick turn of events

    Reply
  3. C milla

    5 months ago

    Soft thrower TJ

    1
    Reply
  4. chandlerbing

    5 months ago

    Brutal
    He was off to a good start

    3
    Reply
  5. DarkSide830

    5 months ago

    Bad timing career’wise for him. Either way, I’m glad Bebo was able to get back to the Majors and have some success. Always will root for this guy.

    2
    Reply
  6. Jbigz12

    5 months ago

    Sucks right before he was about to get his first arb paycheck.

    Reply
    • mrkinsm

      5 months ago

      He was super-2 last year and signed this year for 2.25M$…

      1
      Reply
  7. mrkinsm

    5 months ago

    Right when he was about to make some real money via arbitration, he’ll be non-tendered at year end and then have to sign for near league minimum a year from now.

    Reply
  8. Acoss1331

    5 months ago

    So, he’s getting TJS and flexor strain surgery, am I reading that correctly? Wow, that sucks…

    Reply
  9. DockEllisDee

    5 months ago

    I’d put a decent wager he’ll be back somewhere in the majors, this guy knows all about perseverance. Godspeed my man

    3
    Reply
  10. Ignorant Son-of-a-b

    5 months ago

    Well wasn’t he basically a lottery ticket taken from the DFA scrap-heap anyway? I think he turned out very well for Guards despite the short duration. Churn n’ burn.

    Reply
  11. Windowpane

    5 months ago

    Dude’s career is about over. Too bad. He got the most out of his talent, learned how to pitch and not just throw, and had some success in the Show. Well done.

    Reply
  12. Ok Yankees Fan

    5 months ago

    Blake will have a more lively arm after the operation.

    Reply
  13. Ok Yankees Fan

    5 months ago

    Ben not Blake

    Reply
  14. Birdie man

    5 months ago

    Him and everyone else

    Reply

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