Dodgers Minor Leaguer Pitcher Set to Undergo Tommy John Surgery
At the moment, the Dodgers appear to have one of the deeper bullpens in the majors. Once rosters are cut down to 26 players at the beginning of May, the Dodgers will have some difficult decisions to make. The impending returns of reliever Tommy Kahnle and Caleb Ferguson only compound the problem.
It's a good problem to have, but still a problem. Unfortunately, lefty Darien Nuñez will not be part of the equation for the bullpen at all this year. According to Francys Romero, Nuñez will require Tommy John surgery to address an elbow injury.
At this time, the specifics of the reliever's elbow injury are not known.
Nuñez made his Dodgers debut last year on July 9th against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He made five more appearances and finished with a 8.22 ERA in 7.2 IP. Hence why the lefty reliever spent most of his season between Double-A and Triple-A.
The Dodgers initially signed Nuñez back in 2018. After spending 2018 and 2019 in Low-A and High-A, the Cuban reliever was promoted for the 2021 season. In 32 minor league games last year, Nuñez logged 83 strikeouts in 53 innings to produce an outstanding strikeouts per nine innings average of 14.1.
The 29-year-old might be a part of the bullpen in the future for the Dodgers, but he'll be on the shelf for the rest of this season, and likely 2023 as well.
