Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo has elected to undergo Tommy John surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow “in the coming weeks,” sources told TribLive on Saturday.
Oviedo, 25, was 9-14 with a 4.31 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 177 2/3 innings over 32 starts last season, his first full season as a starter in the major leagues.
Oviedo tied All-Star Mitch Keller for most starts by a Pirates pitcher and ranked second in innings and strikeouts (158). The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder tossed his first career complete-game shutout in a 5-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 28.
His surgery will further deplete a rotation that was down to Keller and Oviedo as the only true starters by season’s end, and continues a troubling trend for Pirates pitchers. They lost JT Brubaker and top-10 prospect Mike Burrows to Tommy John surgery last April, and Vince Velasquez had surgery on his right elbow in June.
Oviedo’s increased workload took a toll, as his 177 2/3 innings last season were 60 1/3 more than he pitched in 2022, split between Triple-A (61 1/3) and the majors (56).
Losing Oviedo increases the pressure on Pirates general manager Ben Cherington to add to the starting rotation this offseason, and he has vowed to attack free agency and the trade market to add veterans to a staff that also returns Bailey Falter, Thomas Hatch and Andre Jackson as well as Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz and Quinn Priester.
Seven of the Pirates’ top 10 prospects are pitchers, including 2023 No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes and fellow top-five prospects in righties Jared Jones and Bubba Chandler and lefty Anthony Solometo.
