Injury-plagued Padres reliever undergoes elbow surgery

San Diego Padres left-hander Drew Pomeranz underwent “a cleanup surgery in his elbow” on Tuesday, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, relaying word from manager Bob Melvin. It’s unknown how long this procedure will keep him out of action but the skipper said that the team remains hopeful he can return later in the season.

Although Melvin seems to be trying to downplay the procedure, which might well be minor, it is notable that the lefty’s health is at the forefront of conversation yet again. Pomeranz is creeping up on two years since his last Major League appearance, which came in August of 2021. He subsequently required surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his throwing arm. Pomeranz was able to begin a rehab assignment one year after that procedure, heading out in August of last year. However, he was shut down due to continued soreness and ultimately missed the entire 2022 campaign.

The club was optimistic about a potential return at the start of the current season, prior to his experiencing additional inflammation in spring training, which forced him onto the injured list to begin the campaign. He started another rehab assignment in mid-April before being shut down yet again after three appearances. The team then transferred Pomeranz to the 60-day injured list.

It has surely been a frustrating series of events for both pitcher and team. After spending many years as a starter with mixed results, the southpaw seemed to thrive in a move to full-time relief work. In 2019, he had a 5.68 ERA with the San Francisco Giants while working primarily out of the rotation. He was traded at the deadline to the Milwaukee Brewers, who used him exclusively as a reliever (apart from one three-inning start). He had a 2.39 ERA with Milwaukee, striking out an incredible 45 percent of batters faced.

When Pomeranz reached free agency, the Padres took a chance on that bullpen breakout, signing the southpaw to a four-year deal that guaranteed him $34M. The gamble seemed to be paying off for a while, as he posted a combined 1.62 ERA between his 20 appearances in the shortened 2020 season and another 27 the year after. He walked 11.4 percent of batters faced in that time but also stuck out 33.7 percent while inducing grounders at a 45.8 percent rate.

Unfortunately, the latter half of the deal has been entirely wasted thus far, with Pomeranz missing the 2022 season and all of 2023 to this point. The Padres aren’t in desperate shape in terms of left-handed relief, as each of Josh Hader, Tim Hill and Tom Cosgrove are posting decent results (to varying degrees). Nonetheless, it would surely be a welcome development if this recent procedure was able to help Pomeranz finally get over his ongoing arm troubles and return to form. He is making a salary of $8M this year and will be a free agent at season’s end.