Minnesota Twins reliever José De León suffered an apparent injury to his right arm while warming up on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning of Saturday night’s game against the Tigers.
De Leon was called in from the bullpen with one out in the eighth and after throwing a warmup pitch he grabbed his right elbow and ran off the mound.
Twins pitcher José De León throws a warmup pitch, then runs off of the mound in obvious pain.
A troubling sign for any pitcher, especially one who has had Tommy John Surgery. pic.twitter.com/m6UJvWCpOZ
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 25, 2023
According to MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park, De León said he felt “a little funky” after one of his warm-up pitches and felt an “electric shock” which caused his elbow to “swell up like crazy.”
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after the 3-2 loss to the Tigers that De León will need to undergo an MRI and will be placed on the injured list with right elbow soreness.
De León was once a top prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and was ranked as high as 24th on MLB.com’s top 100 prospects list before the 2016 season but his career has been derailed due to arm injuries.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, De León appeared in 17 games from 2019 to 2021 with Tampa Bay and Cincinnati and spent last year with the Toronto organization before signing a minor league deal with the Twins this past winter and posting a 4.67 ERA in 12 games this season.
That makes a potentially serious injury for De León a major letdown and why Carlos Correa looked visibly distraught after the 30-year-old left the game.
“Me, the staff [and] his teammates are pretty broken up about it,” Baldelli said via Park. “He’s done really good things this year for himself and our team. Seeing him come off the mound it’s a tough watch for anyone because it becomes emotional.”
De León wasn’t the only Twin to leave Saturday’s game due to injury as Byron Buxton left with a back injury. Although Baldelli said Buxton was “feeling a little bit better” after the game, Buxton is not in Sunday’s lineup against the Tigers.
After spending most of the 2022 season battling through injuries, the Twins have relegated Buxton to a designated hitter role in 2023. While the strategy has helped him play in 60 games, his production has taken a steep decline, posting his lowest OPS (.748) since 2018.
Earlier this week, Baldelli emphatically stated that Buxton “has not been physically able” to play center field and Saturday’s injury may be the latest obstacle to any chance Buxton plays in the field this season.
