Orioles right-hander Chris Ellis will miss the rest of the 2022 season after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery today, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including The Baltimore Sun’s Andy Kostka). Dr. Keith Meister performed Ellis’ surgery today in Arlington.
It’s a rough outcome for Ellis, as arthroscopic procedures usually take the form of “clean-up” procedures, or at least less-serious types of surgeries that can allow a pitcher to return after perhaps 2-3 months, depending on the situation. In this case, however, there was obviously enough wrong with Ellis’ shoulder to require a lengthy recovery period. Ellis was also placed on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation late last season, so it could be that his injury has lingered for some time.
Ellis elected free agency after being outrighted off Baltimore’s 40-man roster last year, and he re-signed with the club on a new minor league deal in mid-March. The O’s selected the righty’s contract on April 19 and he made two starts that differed wildly in quality. After tossing 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Athletics on April 19, Ellis didn’t record a single out while allowing five earned runs to the Angels on April 24. That latter start saw Ellis removed from the game in the first inning due to shoulder problems, and he was placed on the IL two days later with what was termed as shoulder inflammation.
The 29-year-old Ellis has a 3.12 ERA over 34 2/3 career innings in the majors, pitching in parts of the 2019, 2021, and 2022 seasons with the Royals, Rays, and Orioles. (Ellis didn’t pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season.) He has bounced around to several other organizations during his eight pro seasons, and was part of the trade package sent by the Angels to the Braves in the Andrelton Simmons trade back in November 2015. Ellis had only 62 official days of Major League service time prior to the 2022 season, and he’ll continue to amass more service time once the Orioles place him on their 60-day injured list.