Angels on the left Patrick Sandoval he told reporters that he had a high-grade tear and a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left arm. MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was among those to relay the news to X. Although Bollinger uses the phrase “Tommy John surgery,” Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tells X that the nature of the surgery remains unclear. However, the rest is done this year and part of 2025 as well.
The news is obviously heartbreaking, both for Sandoval himself and the Angels as a team. As the club has struggled to find consistent quality hitting in recent years, the southpaw has been one of the few bright spots of its staff.
Since the start of 2021, Sandoval has thrown 460 innings for the club, allowing 3.80 earned runs per nine frames. He struck out 22.6% of the batters he faced during that span with a 10.2% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he had to leave Friday’s start in obvious pain and was placed on the 15-day injured list with an elbow injury, and now the decision has been made that surgery is required.
Sandoval is eligible for compensation after 2022 as a Super Two player. He made $2.75MM last year and is making $5.025MM this year, with two more arbitration seasons remaining. With the Angels having a bad season and not getting back into contention, he could be available at this summer’s deadline and be one of the most attractive arms on the market, something MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently looked into.
Now that won’t be on the table and Sandoval is looking at a layoff for a long time. Full Tommy John surgery usually comes with a recovery timeline of 14 to 18 months, which could put his 2025 season in jeopardy. Internal brace variants can sometimes have shorter timelines, but only by a few months.
The Angels will place Sandoval on the 60-day disabled list if they need a roster spot, but he will need to be reinstated for the offseason. Assuming they give him a 2025 contract, he won’t be able to get a huge raise in this shortened season. A club might be tempted to not tender a pitcher who might not make anything next year, but pitchers in this situation often sign two-year deals to cap their recovery and return to the mound. The Angels can effectively do that by giving him a contract for next year and then 2026.
It’s also another challenge for circulation that has been plentiful. Reid Detmers he struggled enough this year that he was selected in the minors. Tyler Anderson he’s having a good year but he’s 34 years old with one year left on his contract, making him a reasonable trade prospect. Griffin Canning it has just one year of control over this year. Chase Silseth again Jose Soriano they are on the injured list. Zach Plesac has been listed recently but hasn’t had much success in his first two starts. With Sandoval’s surgery, putting together a rotation will be even more difficult, this year and next year.
For Sandoval personally, he’ll miss the remainder of his age-27 season and a good chunk of his age-28 season, taking a toll on his earning potential. He will turn 29 in October next year.
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