The Baltimore Orioles won't be getting their star closer back in time for the playoffs after all.
Félix Bautista is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, general manager Mike Elias announced Saturday. He is expected to miss not only the 2023 postseason, but the entire 2024 regular season as well.
Bautista has not pitched since Aug. 25, and he has been on the 15-day injured list with a UCL injury since Aug. 26. Still, Elias gave Orioles fans hope when he told the media that Bautista was throwing and could return this fall just two weeks ago.
That scenario will not come to pass, and Bautista will instead spend the next year-plus sidelined.
Bautista was enjoying a breakout campaign before he went down, going 8-2 with a 1.48 ERA, 0.918 WHIP and 33 saves in 56 appearances. The 6-foot-8, 285-pound right-hander from the Dominican Republic made his first All-Star Game in July, and his career WAR has already reached 5.7 despite less than two seasons as a reliever in the big leagues.
Despite the severity of Bautista's injury and his extended recovery timeline, Elias told reporters that the Orioles had agreed to a two-year contract extension with the closer, per The Baltimore Sun's Nathan Ruiz.
Bautista was going to be in his first year of arbitration eligibility heading into 2025, but his new deal will cover both 2024 and 2025. Bautista has now pushed arbitration off until the 2026 offseason, and he will not hit free agency until 2028, when he will be 32 years old.
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