Cubs prospect Brandon Birdsell, one of the top young arms in the system, will undergo surgery on his right elbow this week, assistant general manager Jared Banner announced yesterday (link via Janie McCauley of the Associated Press). Banner didn’t provide specifics regarding the injury, noting only that the procedure will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister — one of the industry’s most prominent orthopedic surgeons — and that more information will be known following the procedure.
Banner made no mention of Birdsell’s ulnar collateral ligament, though that’s obviously the fear in situations like this. It’s relatively common with UCL injuries for medical experts to determine that the ligament needs repair but hold off on making the call between an internal brace and full replacement (i.e. Tommy John surgery) until the operation is underway and the surgeon can get a first-hand look at the extent of the damage. The obvious hope, of course, is that Birdsell is dealing with a less severe injury, but the team won’t divulge that information until after the operation is performed.
Regardless of the nature of the surgery, it’s a setback in the development of Birdsell, a former Texas Tech standout whom the Cubs selected with their fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft. The 6’2″, 240-pound righty put himself on the prospect map with a 2.77 ERA in 107 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in his first professional season in 2023, and he followed up with 135 2/3 frames of 3.91 ERA ball split between Double-A and Triple-A last year. Along the way, he made notable improvements in both his strikeout and walk rates, finishing out the ’24 campaign at 23.5% and 5.4%, respectively. That 2024 season propelled him up the organization’s prospect rankings, landing him eighth at FanGraphs, ninth at MLB.com and 12th at Baseball America.
Birdsell opened the 2025 season on the injured list with an elbow issue but returned to the mound in mid-June and looked effective for much of the summer. The Cubs eased him back into things with two- and four-inning starts in the low minors before stretching him back out in Triple-A. Birdsell posted a 2.48 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate in his first seven appearances before being rocked for six runs (three earned) across 4 2/3 innings on Aug. 7 in what will now go down as his final start of the 2025 season.
There’s little left to prove for Birdsell in the minors. He entered the year widely regarded as a nearly MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation arm with a reputation for filling up the strike zone. He’ll be Rule 5-eligible this offseason, presenting the Cubs with an interesting decision if his surgery will knock him out for most or all of the 2026 campaign.
