Missouri Baseball Loses Key Rotation Piece to Tommy John

Head coach Kerrick Jackson announced that Javyn Pimental will miss the 2025 season.

Amber Winkler | Feb 13, 2025

Missouri Pitcher Javyn Pimental throws a football with a teammate during the pre-game warmups. / Amber Winkler / Missouri Tiger On SI

Missouri Tigers Baseball has already been plagued by injuries and the season is yet to begin.

Per Southeastern 16, Missouri head coach Kerrick Jackson has announced that senior pitcher Javyn Pimental will miss the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.

This is a massive loss for the Tigers as Pimental held the highest ERA in the 2024 season for Missouri and the fourth-most innings pitched. He was a frequent starter for the Tigers, but provided long relief in some games. Jackson wasn't afraid to throw Pimental in at any point of the game.

The Tigers already were struggling with who could start games for them and this is just another hole that they will have to fill. Pimental was the only consistent starter they still had from the previous season.

"We're still trying to figure those things out," Jackson said when asked about their rotation. "We've had some guys that have done some really good things for us. We have some good arms, but don't necessarily have a lot of starting experience, so we're kind of working through that a little bit to this point to kind of try and figure out how everything is going to pan out."

New Tigers will get a chance to prove they deserve the starting spot. Freshmen Victor Christal and Brady Kehlenbrink come with a lot of power and could make a strong impact, but the Tigers also have transfers Josh Kirchoff and James Vaugn, who come with more collegiate experience.

Pimental isn't the only Tigers that is being affected by Tommy John this season, either. Junior transfer Gehrig Goldbeck was expected to take the place of starting shortstop for Missouri, but will be limited to a hitting role while his arm heals. Also, pitcher Sam Horn is expected to return just before SEC play after receiving Tommy John at the beginning of the 2024 season.

They won't have very long to finalize their rotation. Missouri's season will begin on Feb. 14 against Penn State as part of the Puerto Rico Challenge.

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