Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli broke devastating news Thursday when he said right-handed pitcher Tyler Mahle needs Tommy John surgery. That means Mahle’s 2023 season is over and the odds of him being ready before the middle of the 2024 season could be slim.
Mahle left his April 27 start with elbow soreness and last week the Twins placed on him on the 60-day injured list. The idea last week was that Mahle would be shut down for at least four weeks, which is obviously no longer the case.
Mahle is now the third pitcher in four years who hasn’t panned out due to injuries after being acquired by the Twins in a trade. All of those trades were executed by the front office duo of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine.
In 2019, the Twins traded for right-handed reliever Sam Dyson and he posted a 7.15 ERA in 12 appearances. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since and the Star Tribune’s La Velle E. Neal III reported that despite the Twins getting a clean medical record from the Giants, Dyson said he had been pitching with shoulder soreness prior to the trade.
The Twins traded prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand for Mahle.
Strand has an 1.100 OPS at AAA for the Reds affiliate. https://t.co/7EtTiLFrTY https://t.co/ikmKhPRbPC
— Nick Halter (@nickhaltermpls) May 11, 2023
Last year, just before the start of the regular season, the Twins sent Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker to the Padres for right-handed starter Chris Paddack. He made five starts and then needed Tommy John surgery.
Paddack went on the injured list back on Sept. 12, 2021 with right elbow inflammation. Although he had rehabbed the injury over the offseason, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported that the New York Mets nixed a deal that would have sent Paddack, Eric Hosmer and Emilio Pagan to New York for Dom Smith and cash considerations due to the condition of his elbow.
Those fears were realized once he arrived in Minnesota. Rooker, by the way, is smashing the ball this season with the Oakland A’s and leads the majors in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.
Mahle was just nine days removed from a stint on the injured list due to shoulder soreness when the Twins traded for him last summer.
Kenta Maeda gave the Twins a tremendous 2020 season after he was acquired from the Dodgers in a trade for flame-thrower Brusdar Graterol, but he missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery and he’s currently on the injured list with a strained triceps.
Louie Varland has taken Mahle’s spot in the starting rotation and Bailey Ober has replaced Maeda.
