After being shut down with arm soreness recently, Seattle Mariners' bullpen candidate Jackson Kowar is set to undergo Tommy John surgery. He will miss the entire season and will likely miss some of next year as well.
Per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com:
Jackson Kowar's arm injury will necessitate Tommy John surgery, Justin Hollander just said ... Dr. Keith Meister will oversee the procedure on Friday in Dallas. A brutal break for the new Mariners reliever who was positioning himself to break camp.
Kowar was traded twice this offseason, first from the Kansas City Royals to the Atlanta Braves in the Kyle Wright deal, and then from the Braves to the M's in the deal that sent Jarred Kelenic to Atlanta.
The 27-year-old University of Florida product is a former first-round pick of the Royals who made his major league debut in 2021. Thus far, it hasn't materialized for him at the major league level, as he has a 2-6 record with a 9.12 ERA. He threw two scoreless innings this spring for Seattle, with three strikeouts.
The Mariners' bullpen is in flux right now as Kowar is out and both Matt Brash and Gregory Santos are slated to start the year on the injured list. At the outset of spring training, it appears that Andres Munoz, Austin Voth, Tayler Saucedo and Gabe Speier have spots in the bullpen, with multiple spots up for grabs.
Seattle missed the playoffs last season after going 88-74. They will open the season on March 28 against the Boston Red Sox.
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