Pirates righty to undergo Tommy John surgery

Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo was known to be undergoing tests for a serious arm injury, and the specifics of the injury are now known, as reporter Francys Romero writes that Oviedo will undergo Tommy John surgery.  Oviedo will miss all of the 2024 season, but given the usual 12-14 months associated with recovery, should hopefully be ready to return to a big league mound by Opening Day 2025.

Losing an entire season is a tough setback for Oviedo, who posted solid numbers for the Pirates in his full season as a Major League starter.  Oviedo started 26 of his 40 Major League appearances with the Cardinals and Pirates in 2020-22, though had mostly been relegated to bullpen work in St. Louis before the Bucs acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline.  Oviedo started all seven of his games for Pittsburgh post-trade, setting the table for a semi-breakout year this past season.

Oviedo (who turns 26 in March) had a 4.31 ERA, as well as a 20.2% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate that were both well below the league average. On the plus side, his 44.9% grounder rate was more than decent, and Oviedo’s 177 2/3 frames ranked him within the top 30 in innings pitched last year.  This durability was a huge help on Pittsburgh’s overall young and shaky pitching staff, and it made Oviedo essentially the No. 2 starter behind Mitch Keller.

Pittsburgh was already looking to add pitching heading into the winter, ideally landing at least one veteran arm that could push Oviedo to the middle or even the back end of the rotation.  Unfortunately, he’s now out of the 2024 plans altogether, leaving the Bucs in even greater need of starting help.  Keller, Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz, Bailey Falter, and former first-rounder Quinn Priester are probably the Pirates’ starting five if the season began today, though some upgrades are certainly needed to bolster this largely unproven group.  Of course, payroll is always a concern for the Pirates, so the search for arms might be limited to perhaps one notable veteran on a multi-year (as in two or at most three years) deal, and then lower-cost veterans on one-year pacts or minor league deals.

The Cuban-born Oviedo was an international signing for the Cardinals in 2016 and worked his way up the ladder for some big-league action despite some less-then-stellar numbers in the minors.  Oviedo has a 5.37 ERA over 115 2/3 career innings at Triple-A and even a 5.65 ERA in 113 Double-A frames, as quite a few walks offset some solid strikeout numbers.  Those control problems have continued into Oviedo’s time in the majors, yet even settling into a role as a back-end starter who can eat innings can make for steady work.

The question now is whether or not Oviedo will be able to retain his durability after this major arm surgery.  While plenty of pitchers have returned from Tommy John procedures no worse for wear, there is always a threat that more elbow problems could arise in the future, which could impact Oviedo’s ability to stick as a starting pitcher.  Losing a year will already have an adverse effect on his earning power, as Oviedo will now be in line for a pretty low salary when he becomes arbitration-eligible for the first time next winter.