Braves' Strider has season-ending surgery
Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the team said Saturday.
Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, performed the procedure on Friday, using an internal brace to repair the UCL. Strider avoided Tommy John surgery, which he had in 2019 while at Clemson.
Recovery from the internal brace surgery, which uses an artificial material to make the repair, has allowed pitchers to return to the majors in as few as nine months. Tommy John surgery, which uses a tendon from elsewhere in the body to replace the torn ligament, has a typical rehab period of 12 to 18 months.
Strider complained about discomfort in his elbow after pitching four innings in Atlanta's 6-5 win over Arizona on April 5. An MRI the next day revealed damage to his UCL, and the Braves prepared for the worst.
The right-hander was 20-5 in 2023, leading the majors in wins and strikeouts (281).
He had a 7.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts in two starts this year.
The club's first attempt at finding someone to fill Strider's spot in the rotation went poorly. Right-hander Allan Winans was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett last Sunday after Strider went on the 15-day injured list. Winans allowed seven runs, six earned, over five innings of a disastrous start against the
Mets on Thursday and was optioned after the game.
The 25-year-old Strider joins a list of big-name pitchers who have suffered significant injuries this season.
Cleveland's Shane Bieber, the New York Yankees' Jonathan Loáisiga, Miami's Eury Pérez and Oakland's Trevor Gott are among the pitchers diagnosed with elbow injuries. Meister performed Tommy John surgery on Bieber on Friday.
Twins' Correa on IL
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa was placed on the 10-day injured list, a day after sustaining an oblique injury in Minnesota's 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Correa was hitting .306 with a homer and four RBIs in 11 games and had an .876 OPS. The two-time All-Star was replaced on the 25man roster by catcher Jair
Camargo, who was hitting .268 with two homers in 11 games for Triple-A St. Paul.
Willi Castro is expected to get most of the playing time at shortstop.
Pitcher punches wall, breaks his hand
Texas Rangers reliever Brock Burke broke his non-throwing hand while punching a wall following a poor outing Friday night against the Houston Astros.
Manager Bruce Bochy said Burke, who is a lefthander, broke his right hand when he punched the wall “out of frustration” and was placed on the injured list.
The 27-year-old allowed three hits and four runs in the seventh inning of his team's 12-8 win.
“We want our guys, our athletes to be competitive and hate to lose, but with that passion there's a fine edge, and when you cross that line there's going to be consequences,” Bochy said. “And we just saw what happened there. You love the fact that he was upset with not helping the club last night … but it just wasn't a smart move.”
The Astros were unhappy at Burke's plunking of the elbow of slugger Yordan Alvarez after almost hitting him on three previous pitches inside. Alvarez stared Burke down before trotting to first base. Kyle Tucker sent Burke's next pitch into the second deck in left field for his second home of the game and punctuated it with a bat flip.
Bochy denied that Burke, who has a 15.00 ERA in five appearances this season, was trying to hit Alvarez.
“Any team would be upset in that situation with pitches, when he's struggling trying to throw strikes,” Bochy said. “Four pitches go at their guy. Just like we're going to be upset. But Burke was out there … because he's trying to find his game. He wouldn't have been in that game if he had good command and control.”
Bochy said he hasn't had a chance to talk to Burke about what happened yet but he plans to have a conversation about it.
“Obviously he regrets it,” Bochy said. “Sometimes you don't have time to think about what the consequences may be. You're just that upset and that frustrated. That's the passion to do well (and) hate to lose.”