Yankees’ Jonathan Loáisiga to Have Season-Ending Surgery on Elbow Injury

Julia StumbaughApril 6, 2024

New York Yankees/Getty Images

New York Yankees reliever Jonathan Loáisiga will miss the rest of the 2023 season after undergoing surgery on a torn UCL, MLB’s Bryan Hoch reported.

Loáisiga said the procedure is not Tommy John surgery.

The surgery will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister. Loáisiga’s recovery will take between 10 and 12 months, per Hoch.

The Yankees had previously classified Loáisiga’s injury as a right flexor strain, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post.

The news means there is a possibility Loáisiga has made his last start for the Yankees. The 29-year-old is set to become a free agent after this season.

Loáisiga made two trips to the IL last season due to elbow inflammation, including one that necessitated surgery to remove a bone spur.

With that in mind, Yankees had put together a plan to help the reliever stay healthy in 2024, according to Dan Martin and Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post.

The plan involved slating Loáisiga to pitch multiple innings at a time with no back-to-backs and days of rest built in between appearances, Martin and Sanchez reported.

The Yankees appeared to follow that plan through the first week of the season, which saw Loáisiga pitch two innings on Thursday, March 28, followed by one inning apiece Sunday and Wednesday.

Loáisiga allowed seven hits and one walk, while striking out three and allowing no runs over the span.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Loáisiga felt “something in his elbow” during the single inning he pitched Wednesday against the Arizona Cardinals, Joyce reported. He then was added to the IL Friday.

Loáisiga’s injury leaves the Yankees without a valuable multi-inning reliever.

Although Loáisiga has been limited by injury to pitching 65.2 innings over the last two seasons, he has remained effective when healthy thanks to his powerful arm. His fastball velocity ranks in the 95th percentile of the MLB, per Baseball Savant,

The Yankees called up Dennis Santana from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Loáisiga’s IL assignment.

Although Santana can throw with similarly high velocity, he has yet to achieve Loáisiga’s success at the MLB level. He will now get the opportunity to do so as the Yankees reorganize their bullpen in Loáisiga’s absence.