Detroit Tigers' Young Starter Set to Miss Entire Season with Serious Elbow Surgery
After consulting with doctors, Detroit Tigers' starting pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long is set to undergo internal brace surgery, which will cost him the rest of the 2024 season.
UPDATE, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET: Unfortunately, the consultations with doctors have led Gipson-Long to surgery. He'll undergo internal brace surgery, which is the same surgery that Braves' ace Spencer Strider just had.
He'll miss the entirety of the season but because this isn't the full-fledged Tommy John surgery, he should be back early in 2025.
Per Evan Woodbury, who covers the Tigers:
Tigers right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long is undergoing Tommy John surgery on Monday. It's the type of UCL reconstruction that uses an internal brace (similar to Spencer Strider's recent surgery).
SGL will miss all of 2024.
Friday:
Detroit Tigers' right-handed pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long is facing a worrisome prognosis on his ailing elbow.
Per Tigers' reporter Jason Beck:
Sawyer Gipson-Long said he’s still getting opinions on his elbow. He saw Dr. Keith Meister in Texas earlier this week and Dr. Tim Griffith in Atlanta before that. No decision made on next step.
He was put on the injured list because of a groin problem but now the elbow is clearly much more of an issue. Meeting with those specific doctors leads you to believe it could be potentially serious but there have been no conclusions drawn yet, so the Tigers will continue to hope for the best.
The 26-year-old made his major league debut last season, throwing 20 innings with a 2.70 ERA. The Tigers currently have Jack Flaherty, Kenta Maeda, Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Reese Olson, with Matt Manning in the minor leagues, so they can get by without Gipson-Long, but you never like to see your depth tested this early in the season.
He had thrown three innings this year on a minor league rehab assignment. Gipson-Long was a sixth-round pick out of Mercer in the 2019 Major League draft.
The Tigers are currently 10-8 on the season and 2.0 games back of the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central. Detroit finished second in the division a year ago and is seeking a major jump this year because of the acquisitions of Maeda and Flaherty, as well as the development of youngsters like Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene.
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