Robert Stephenson Undergoes Season-Ending Elbow Surgery

Angels right-hander Robert Stephenson has undergone elbow surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Manager Kurt Suzuki gave the bad news to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. It was a ligament and flexor repair surgery, per Bollinger.

The Halos took a gamble on Stephenson by signing him to a three-year, $33MM deal ahead of the 2024 season. Unfortunately, that bet has not paid off at all due to Stephenson’s injury woes. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 campaign. He returned to the mound by the end of May 2025 but some biceps inflammation put him back on the shelf after just two appearances. He came off the injured list in August and made eight more appearances but finished the season back on the IL due to elbow inflammation.

As of about a month ago, he was throwing and seemed on a path to being healthy in 2026. But about three weeks ago, he suffered a setback and relayed that he had apparently suffered damage to his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor muscle. Yet another surgery means that he’s going to miss a full season for the second time in three years. He’ll have given the Angels just ten innings for their $33MM investment.

The contract does contain a conditional option for 2027. It’s valued at $2.5MM and was to be unlocked if Stephenson spent 130 consecutive days on the IL at any point due to an elbow ligament injury. That option was therefore already triggered when Stephenson missed the 2024 campaign. That means there is technically still a chance for the Halos to get some value out of Stephenson but they would have to cough up a bit more money. Given how the past three years have gone, that’s hard to see right now.

At the time of the signing, Stephenson wasn’t really proven but it felt like perhaps he was about to break out. He was once a first-round pick and a top prospect. His major league track record was mixed but it seemed as though the Rays may have unlocked something. He finished 2023 with Tampa and posted a 2.35 earned run average in 38 1/3 innings. He paired a massive 42.9% strikeout rate with a tiny 5.7% walk rate.

The Angels thought there was a potential lights-out closer in there but that didn’t come to fruition as he has been bit hard by the injury bug. He just turned 33 years old and will turn 34 in February of next year. It’s not exactly clear if he underwent full Tommy John surgery or some kind of internal brace alternative. In either case, it seems likely he’ll still be recovering by the time the 2027 season gets underway.