Pirates Pitcher Takes Step Forward in Injury Recovery

The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the deepest stables of starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. It may not be long before they have another valuable arm on the big league roster.

Today, the Pirates announced that starting pitcher Johan Oviedo is making good progress in his return from Tommy John surgery, and will begin facing live batters this week.

Todd Tomczyk, Pittsburgh's Director of Sports Medicine, spoke to reporters before Wednesday's game, providing the optimistic update regarding Oviedo.

Oviedo was originally injured during the 2023 off-season. He suffered a right elbow injury that forced him to get Tommy John surgery, an increasingly common procedure in today's baseball world.

He missed all of the 2024 season while recovering from the surgery. It looked like Oviedo was going to have a chance to make the Opening Day roster and re-claim a spot in the starting pitching rotation. However, he suffered a setback in his return when he strained his right lat muscle during a Spring Training batting practice on March 5th.

The Pirates proceeded to place Oviedo on the 60-day Injured list. Now, it looks like Oviedo may be getting closer to a rehabilitation assignment in the minor leagues.

Tomczyk noted that Oviedo's velocity is around 93-95 mph right now. He has not yet ramped up to full velocity, but that will likely be the next step in his return to the mound. Oviedo's fastball averaged 95.8 mph in the 2023 season.

“That’s really exciting for him,” Tomczyk said. “He’s feeling really good from the lat and the Tommy John surgery. A nice, monumental moment for Johan.”

During the 2023 season, Oviedo started 32 games for the Pirates and pitched to a 4.31 ERA. He struck out 158 hitters in 177.2 innings pitched. Oviedo struggled with his control, as he walked 83 batters. He also had 13 batters hit by pitch, a league high.