Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann will endure Tommy John surgical procedure on Tuesday, supervisor John Schneider advised reporters, together with The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath. It’s a conventional TJ process relatively than the more and more well-liked brace process, and consequently, Tiedemann will most likely miss your entire 2025 season.
Tiedemann left a Triple-A outing on July 10 attributable to tightness in his left forearm and had reportedly obtained a number of opinions about methods to proceed with the harm. Such a scenario normally hints that surgical procedure is being thought-about, and sadly for Tiedemann, he’ll now face the hardest setback but of a professional profession that has already been marked by accidents.
A 3rd-round choose for Toronto within the 2021 draft, Tiedemann rapidly acquired himself on the top-100 prospect radar with a formidable 2022 season that noticed him go from A-ball to high-A to Double-A over the course of the 12 months (totaling 78 2/3 innings). He was restricted to solely 44 frames in 2023, nonetheless, attributable to biceps and shoulder accidents, although Tiedemann did make his Triple-A debut with a single begin for Buffalo. Calf and hamstring soreness slowed his work in Spring Coaching, and a bout of ulnar nerve irritation sidelined him on Buffalo’s injured listing earlier this season, which now seems like a precursor to his Tommy John surgical procedure. Tiedemann has thrown 17 1/3 innings unfold over three minor league ranges in 2024, with a 5.19 ERA and an unpalatable 19.28% stroll fee.
All advised, Tiedemann has thrown solely 140 minor league innings over three skilled seasons, plus 18 extra frames within the 2023 Arizona Fall League. He’ll solely nominally add to that complete throughout no matter minor league rehab work is available in 2025, and a Main League debut that at one level appeared seemingly in 2023 has now virtually certainly been pushed again to 2026.
Tiedemann doesn’t flip 22 till subsequent month, so youth is on his aspect, and he can actually nonetheless be seen as a key piece of the Blue Jays’ future. However clearly, it’s anybody’s guess as to how the southpaw will bounce again after basically two misplaced seasons of growth, to not point out how his elbow might or might not maintain up within the aftermath of a TJ process. Although Tiedemann has but to achieve the large leagues, there are some comparisons right here to a different extremely touted Jays pitching prospect in Nate Pearson, who has been used completely as a reliever within the final two seasons attributable to well being issues. (Sarcastically, Pearson’s Jays tenure ended as we speak when he was dealt to the Cubs.)
Dropping Tiedemann to main UCL surgical procedure solely provides to the Blue Jays’ all-around disappointment of a 2024 season. Anticipating to contend and attain the playoffs for the fourth time in 5 seasons, Toronto has as a substitute sputtered to a 47-56 report, and solely 5 groups have a worse successful proportion than the Jays’ .456 mark. The trades of Pearson and Yimi Garcia have signaled {that a} retool is coming on the commerce deadline, and whereas the workforce reportedly nonetheless plans to reload for an additional shot at competition in 2025, loads of questions should be requested about whether or not this technique is viable or if Schneider or GM Ross Atkins are the folks finest match to get Toronto again to successful baseball.
The shortage of minor league assist is one strike towards the Jays’ reload plans, because the membership hasn’t been capable of generate a lot in the best way of in-house expertise. Tiedemann and Orelvis Martinez are the one two Blue Jays gamers in MLB Pipeline’s present prime 100 prospects listing, and Tiedemann is now slated for TJ surgical procedure, whereas Martinez is serving an 80-game PED suspension.
