Talented pitching prospect undergoes Tommy John surgery

The Braves love to keep things quiet, so oftentimes it’s difficult to find out about injuries to players in the minors. I recognized the other day that talented prospect arm Brooks Wilson hit the 60-day IL in Gwinnett. And upon further review, the prognosis is not great. Wilson underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2022 season.

Our own Caleb Thomas did a prospect review on Wilson before the season, mentioning him as a potential bullpen candidate in Atlanta this season. Here’s what he had to say about the 26-year-old:

Wilson shot up the minor league ranks, logging a 2.24 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 165 innings. His rise in the prospect rankings came in 2021 when he turned heads with a nasty splitter that he threw with more frequency, leading to an eye-popping 15 strikeouts per nine innings. It’s become evident he’s close to being major-league ready. Atlanta’s surplus of relievers will makes that more difficult; however, recent injuries might have just paved a path for him to begin the season with the Braves.

It’s a really unfortunate injury for a player that was almost guaranteed to make his major-league debut this season, especially after the injury to Luke Jackson, who also just underwent Tommy John surgery. Both players will be out now for at least 12 months, and it’s likely we won’t see them until the middle of the 2023 season.