The often injured Chicago Cubs reliever, could, according to reports, miss opening day as a result of a recent elbow surgery.
According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, Chicago Cubs righty Brandon Morrow recently underwent elbow surgery, a procedure that Jordan Bastian of MLB.com quoted Cubs president Theo Epstein as being an “arthroscopic debridement procedure (“cleanup of cartilage”)”. The procedure, according to Bastian, occurred on November 6.
Furthermore, both Bastian and Rogers allude to the fact that while the surgery is not necessarily severe in nature, it could potentially affect his availability in early 2019. As many Cubs fans ardently noted on Twitter, Morrow last appeared in a game on July 15th, but didn’t have the surgery until November.
Morrow, 34, has struggled with injuries for the longest time, even dating back to his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays. Recently, he appeared in 35 games for the Cubs, pitching to an excellent ERA of 1.47, albeit in a limited 30.2 frames. Since 2014, he hasn’t managed to pitch more than 45 innings in a single season. For his career, he’s racked up 877 strikeouts and 51 wins in parts of 11 seasons with the Blue Jays, Padres, Cubs, and Mariners.
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In 2017, Morrow was perhaps equally dominant, boasting an ERA of 2.06 in 43.2 innings, striking out 50 and walking just nine. He was almost as dominant when he pitched in 2018, with a 1.46 ERA and a 1.076 WHiP in 30.2 innings, nothcing 22 saves. Over his 30.2 innings, he recorded 31 strikeouts with nine walks. According to Baseball Reference, he has been worth a career 11.6 WAR.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, this latest development represents practically every fear they could’ve had about signing Morrow. Though incredibly effective overall, he has consistently struggled to remain healthy and toss large numbers of innings.
While it’s no sure thing that he’ll miss Opening Day, it certainly looks likely at this point. Will the Cubs seek more relief help on the free-agent market? We’ll just have to wait and see…