Promising Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Johan Oviedo Set to Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Johan Oviedo's elbow injury was serious enough to require Tommy John surgery, effectively knocking the Pittsburgh Pirates' righty out for all of 2024.

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Johan Oviedo is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, according to multiple reports. MLB.com's Francys Romero was first on the story, and it was later confirmed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey. 

News first started to trickle out about Oviedo's elbow injury earlier this month, at which point the team was apparently on the fence about how to proceed with the 25-year-old right-hander.

After further evaluation, Oviedo will go under the knife in the coming days and miss the entire 2024 season as a result of the procedure.

Cuban RHP Johan Oviedo (25) will require surgery Tommy John, per sources.

He will undergo surgery in the upcoming days. pic.twitter.com/P8armohbHY

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) November 25, 2023

Oviedo got his start with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2020, holding a spot in the team's rotation before he got flipped to the Pirates in exchange for All-Star starting pitcher José Quintana at the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline.

The Cuban hurler closed out the 2022 season with a 3.23 ERA in seven starts in Pittsburgh, and he was the Pirates' No. 2 starter to open the 2023 campaign.

Oviedo went 9-14 with a 4.31 ERA, 1.373 WHIP and 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings across 32 appearances this year, including 14 quality starts and a compete game shutout. He ranked seventh on the team and third among Pirates pitchers with a 2.1 WAR.

For his career, Oviedo is 13-25 with a 4.32 ERA, 1.397 WHIP and 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Without Oviedo, the Pirates' rotation for 2024 is at risk of being even more barren than it was in 2023.

Mitch Keller is in line to be Pittsburgh's ace once again, but considering the club has yet to extend the 27-year-old, his future with the franchise remains up in the air. Rich Hill – now a 43-year-old free agent – is the only other Pirate who logged more than 75 innings as a starter in 2023, while 24-year-olds Luis Ortiz and Roansy Contreras combined for a 5.44 ERA in their limited time at the end of the rotation.

JT Brubaker, meanwhile, missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. Vince Velasquez got knocked out for the year in June thanks to a UCL procedure of his own.

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