Dodgers Injury News: 2 Pitching Prospects Undergo Tommy John Surgery
When the Dodgers (and every other team) hit last week’s deadline to put Rule 5 draft-eligible players on the 40-man roster to protect them, there was talk that L.A. might protect young pitcher Carlos Duran. They ultimately didn’t, and we might have an idea why now, as Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser reports.
Dodgers prospect news: RHPs Edgardo Henriquez and Carlos Duran both had Tommy John surgery recently. The two big, hard-throwing righthanders were among the Dodgers top pitching prospects at the Class A levels.
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) November 30, 2022
Duran and fellow righty Edgardo Henriquez both recently underwent Tommy John surgery. Henriquez suffered his injury on August 9 in the second inning of a game against the Lake Elsinore Storm. Duran’s last outing of the season came on September 6, but it’s unclear when or how the injury occurred.
Unfortunately, as Glaser further clarifies, Duran’s surgery doesn’t mean the Dodgers are safe from having him plucked away in the Rule 5 draft.
Teams actually pick TJ guys fairly often in the Rule 5 draft. Gives them a free year with the player w/o having to put him on the active roster. (i.e. Pirates took Jose Soriano No. 1 overall in 2020 after he had TJ)
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) November 30, 2022
If a team were to take Duran in the Rule 5, they would have to immediately add him to their 40-man roster. Once spring training starts, they could transfer him to the 60-day injured list to free up a spot on the 40-man, but it would impede their ability to make additions this offseason. Still, a team could take Duran and add him to their roster, and worst-case scenario they have to send him back to the Dodgers if they end up needing the roster spot.
Duran is 21 years old and posted a 4.25 ERA at High-A in 2022, so it’s no guarantee any team will be willing to commit a roster spot to him even with the 60-day IL available during the season, but it seems more likely that he’ll be drafted now than it was when we thought a team would have to actually keep him in the majors if they took him.
Henriquez isn’t eligible for the Rule 5, so the only consideration on him is getting him healthy and back on the mound. The 20-year-old posted a 4.54 ERA in Low-A in 2022.
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I have followed a few teams in my day and have never seen the number of ucl surgeries in one organization before. I guess that is the price of giving their projects the special velocity training.