Guardians announced its right-hander on Wednesday Daniel Espinothe top pitching prospect in their system and one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, had repairs to his right shoulder anterior capsule. Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the surgery, predicts a return to gaming in 12 to 14 months.
The surgery is for the 22-year-old who entered the season ranked at least 33 on MLB.com’s Top 100 list (No. 16), ESPN’s Kyrie McDaniel (No. 18) and Baseball America’s Top 100 list (No. 19). is Espino’s latest setback. ), Baseball Prospectus (No. 25), and Keith Law of The Athletic (No. 33). That fanfare stems from a devastating repertoire that includes triple-digit heaters, positive sliders, above-average changeups and curveballs.
As advertised, Espino’s shoulder surgery will see him pitch in a total of four games starting in 2022-23. He opened with a dominant showing, beating out 35 of his opponents and recording a 2.45 ERA. However, he hasn’t pitched in a game setting since. We were hoping to get that issue sorted out, but when he resumed throwing he felt uncomfortable again and was eventually diagnosed with a subscapular tear and a capsular tear. I shut him down for 8 weeks and it wasn’t enough.
Espino was selected 24th overall in the 2019 draft, but has managed only 133 2/3 innings to date thanks to injuries last year and the canceled 2020 minor league season. He was again put on a lengthy layoff and won’t return to the mound until he’s 23. While it’s clear he’s old enough to have a long and fruitful career, it’s clear that persistent injury problems have stalled what was possible. A meteoric rise to the big leagues, based on his pure and raw talent.
A healthy Espino would have had a good chance to make his debut this season, given his injuries elsewhere in the roster. Tanner Bibby, Logan Allen and Peyton Battenfield made his MLB debut in the first month of the season, Aaron Sibert and Triston Mackenzie It’s on the injured list.