Former All-Star won't pitch in 2023 following shoulder surgery

Right-hander Alex Reyes won’t pitch in 2023 after undergoing shoulder surgery earlier this week, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. 

This past offseason, the 28-year-old hurler signed with the Dodgers on a one-year deal that includes a $3M club option for the 2024 season.

That, of course, will not come to pass, as Reyes has now gone under the knife for a second time in hopes of returning to the major league mound. 

Reyes has managed just 145 innings in his career since making his big league debut during the 2016 season due to countless injuries, though the right-hander has flashed immense talent when healthy. Most recently, Reyes posted a 3.24 ERA across 72 1/3 innings of work in 2021 that earned Reyes his first career All-Star appearance.

As Plunkett notes, Reyes is now not expected to return to the majors until sometime in 2024, with a recovery time of at least twelve months. The outcome is surely deeply disappointing for both Reyes and the Dodgers, as Reyes had begun to ramp up during spring training with an eye toward returning sometime before the All-Star break. 

Unfortunately, Reyes had to be shut down thanks to increasing pain in his shoulder throughout his rehab process. At that point, Plunkett notes that more damage was found in Reyes’s throwing shoulder, though it was not related to the labrum that was repaired by Reyes’s previous surgery.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, the club has a solid bullpen even without Reyes, as the likes of Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, and Caleb Ferguson have done well in holding down the late innings for L.A. this season. 

Going forward, the Dodgers will have to make a decision on Reyes’s $3M option for 2024 in the coming months, though it’s possible the player and the club could come to terms on a different deal that would keep Reyes in L.A. without requiring the Dodgers to commit $3M in guaranteed money to a pitcher who will have had a layoff of at least two and a half seasons due to injury.