Oct. 9: The Phillies announced that Morgan has undergone a flexor tendon repair procedure and will require six to nine months to recover.
Oct. 8: Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan is set to undergo surgery on his throwing elbow tomorrow. Morgan’s wife Rachel revealed the news in a post on her Instagram past, and NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury added that the surgery will address a flexor pronator injury. Salisbury estimates a six-to-eight month recovery time for Morgan, based on past timelines for other injured pitchers undergoing similar procedures.
This isn’t the first time that Morgan has dealt with such an injury, as injured list stints for both a forearm strain and a flexor strain limited Morgan to 29 2/3 innings pitched in 2019, and the latter flexor problem ended his season after July 31. The southpaw did spend some time on the IL this season due to shoulder soreness, yet while Morgan’s elbow didn’t cause him to miss any time this season, there were some red flags.
Morgan averaged only 91.6 mph on his fastball in 2020, a drop from his 92.6mph velocity in 2019 and a further decline after topping the 94mph threshold in both 2017 and 2018 (his first two seasons as a full-time reliever). In the small sample size of 13 innings, Morgan posted a 5.54 ERA, 11.1 K/9, and 2.67 K/BB rate this season. He also had career-worst totals in BB/9 (4.15) and HR/9 (2.08), though ERA predictors were generally satisfied with his work — Morgan had a 4.04 xFIP and 3.81 SIERA, each significantly below his real-world ERA.
After being converted to relief pitching, Morgan delivered some solid results for the Phillies in 2017, 2018, and even in his injury-shortened 2019. The lefty posted a 3.97 ERA, 9.6 K/9, and 2.84 K/BB rate over 133 2/3 innings over those three seasons. If the Phils have confidence that this elbow surgery will help Morgan get back on track, they could have interest in retaining him given the club’s dire need for bullpen help.
Morgan earned $1.575MM this season and is line for only a modest raise in his third and final year of arbitration eligibility. He wouldn’t represent a big investment for Philadelphia, but by the time the non-tender deadline rolls around in early December, the team might not yet know if Morgan’s recovery will be on the shorter end or longer end of that 6-to-8 month timeframe. As such, Morgan might not be tendered a contract, though the Phils (or another team) could then explore signing him to a less-expensive deal.
The Phillies went for it too early. They should of built of their farm system more before they went for it. The good teams have good farm systems. Baseball is a team sport. You need a lot of good players. Not just a couple of star players. Look at the Angels.
A well-reasonwd response.
The Philadelphia front office job available for a person such as yourself with keen insight. John Middleton is waiting for your call.
It didn’t matter. They have consistently drafted poorly. If they waited, the results would’ve been the same. At least fans got some enjoyment in chunks of the last two seasons before the inevitable collapses.
when did we hire the Eagles medical staff?
You meant the Sixers lmao.
I know it’s super cool to blame the medical staff, but how is this their fault? Should they have jumped in front of the pitch that hit Segura? Maybe run onto the field the prevent the base runner from awkwardly hitting Hoskins? Maybe they could have went to Wheeler’s house and pulled his pants up for him so he didn’t gash his finger? Morgan had injuries to his pitching arm before…
I’m fine with this. For the love of GOD resign JT, build a bullpen and sign one decent starter and pray for the best. So hard to be a Philadelphia sports fan…
Try being an Atlanta sports fan. Heartbreak and chocking around every corner. Remember the thrashers? That was sad. Don’t get me started on the hawks either. Or a Tennessee Titans fan I remember that time they were a yard away from winning the Superbowl
Lots of pressure on a GM to win, so not shocked Klentak “went for it” when he did. Only 30 GM jobs in the land, and if you’re lucky enough to land one, you’ve got about five years (Tops.) to produce.
Klentak’s problem was not being able to judge talent. Recent drafts have yielded little in the way of everyday players. Bohm should be the exception, but before we put his name in the same sentence with Mike Schmidt, let’s see what happens when he also faces pitchers from the NL West and NL Central as well as whomever our AL opponents are in 2021.
Lots of hoopla surrounding Spencer Howard, but his debut was less than stellar. Still, he remains the best of our in-house pitching prospects.
Aside from those two, the rest are, well, meh.
Cigar Guy is gonna have to open up the checkbook again this year. First, for Realmuto and then for a solid starting pitcher.
Right now, I rate our chances at re-signing JT no more than 50/50. You know, other GMs have money, too.
I still have faith that Spencer Howard will turn into at least a really good #2 or #3 starter. I bet the Phillies keep Realmuto. The Phillies are a large market team and they will surely pony up the money to keep JT. He’s a leader and the best catcher in the game and they gave up a potential ace in Sixto Sanchez and an alright every day catcher in Jorge Alfaro to get him. Surely they will do whatever it takes to keep him in Philadelphia
losbravos69: The Phillies can not “keep” Realmuto. They no longer own his rights. He’s a FA and free to go any place he chooses.
However, the Phillies ought to be able to afford to re-sign Realmuto. Arrieta’s $25 M came off the books at season’s end, as did Didi”s $14 M. And there are a few higher priced relievers (Hunter, Robertson e.g.) whose contracts expired, as well. So there is payroll flexibility available to them.
I agree with you about Howard. Bryce Harper is a fan, and he knows a thing or two about pitchers’ stuff. Howard impressed Bryce during summer camp.
I’m really hoping we re-sign Didi. From game 1 through Game 60 (He played in them all.) he was the team’s most consistent player.
“keep” here is just a matter of semantics
Klentak got hit with the Boston jinx. The Workman/Hembree deal in mid season to shore up the pen looked like an answer…..it was a nightmare of a trade that cost the Phils at least 4-5 games they should have won. Just one more game would have put them in the playoffs (granted to get hammered by the Dodgers) but they would have been in………and Klentak would have at least another year.
If not making the playoffs meant no more Klentak, I’m on board. Like you said, we weren’t gonna beat the Dodgers, so what’s lost by not playing two or three more games?
Klentak and his nerd squad were in way over their heads trying to assemble a winning team by the numbers.
Once had a former big league player and coach tell me, “I’ll watch any baseball game from tee-ball on up to college games, and within thirty minutes or less I’ll point out the best player on the field.”.
In 30 minutes almost no one will have fielded a ball, almost no one will have batted, and almost no one will have pitched. That dude may think he’s god but he’s not.
4-5 is being generous to be honest. even one more competent arm (or one of the deadline guys not catering) and the Phillies probably would have won that one game needed to make the playoffs (though we still would have needed more arms to actually advance, especially past the Dodgers)