Former Seattle Mariners Ace Undergoes Surgery, Will Likely Miss All of 2025 Season
Former Seattle Mariners ace Marco Gonzales officially had surgery on Friday and is now likely to miss most - if not all- of the 2025 season.
Gonzales has spent the 2024 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Per Andrew Destin, who covers the Pirates:
Pirates injury notes from director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk:
Ke'Bryan Hayes could begin playing light catch soon
Marco Gonzales underwent left flexor tendor repair surgery. His expected return is 12 months
Johan Oviedo is projected to be ready for Spring Training
Pirates injury notes from director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk:
— Andrew Destin (@AndrewDestin1) September 13, 2024
Ke'Bryan Hayes could begin playing light catch soon
Marco Gonzales underwent left flexor tendor repair surgery. His expected return is 12 months
Johan Oviedo is projected to be ready for Spring Training
It's a terrible break for Gonzales, who is set to be a free agent after this season. As a result of this surgery, he may not be able to find a job until the 2026 season. However, he could sign a two-year deal somewhere with the understanding that he'll be back in 2026 as well.
Gonzales was acquired by the Mariners in 2017 and was meant to be a building block for the next wave of M's contending teams. He was just that, winning 13 games in 2018 when the M's last went for it with the Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager, Felix Hernandez and Robinson Cano group.
Then, when the team started its rebuild, Gonzales was there, serving as the ace in both 2019 and 2020. He won 16 games for the M's in 2019, despite the team only winning 68 games. He then went 7-2 during the COVID 2020 shortened season before winning 10 more games in 2021 as the M's pushed back towards contention.
Unfortunately, he regressed in each of the next two seasons, going 10-15 with a 4.13 ERA in 2022 and pitching to a 5.22 ERA in 10 games in 2023 before shutting it down with a different elbow injury.
The Mariners traded him to the Atlanta Braves last offseason. They then spun him off to the Pirates, where he went 1-1 with a 4.54 ERA in seven games.
He's 32 years old.
RELATED SEATTLE MARINERS CONTENT:
NEW PODCAST IS OUT: The latest episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast is out as Brady Farkas talks about the meaning of the M's loss on Thursday to the Texas Rangers and the dominance of Bryan Woo on Wednesday against the Padres. He's joined by Joe Doyle of the "Over Slot" podcast to talk about the M's roster and looming issues, and then he talks with Kevin Kugler of FS1, who was on the call for Woo's start. CLICK HERE:
M's MAKE RECENT HISTORY on BASES: The Seattle Mariners have now done something they haven't done in the last 12 years of team history. CLICK HERE:
WOO WOW's: San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. had high praise for Bryan Woo after Wednesday's game. CLICK HERE:
Follow Inside the Mariners on social media
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on "X" @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the "Refuse to Lose" podcast by clicking HERE:
BRADY FARKAS