There was a reason that Cubs pitching prospect Brandon Birdsell, the No. 9 overall prospect in the team’s system and the Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2024, was still on the board when Chicago made its selection in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB draft: He had a long history of being unable to stay healthy, including Tommy John surgery in high school.
After last season’s promising showing saw Birdsell elevated to Triple-A Iowa with a shot at making the team out of spring training, though, it looked like perhaps Birdsell’s injury woes were behind him.
Alas, Birdsell began having injury troubles again in March and landed on the 60-day injured list. He began rehabbing in June and returned to Iowa in July, finally appearing to return to form in his last three starts, when he went 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 16.o innings.
But an elbow injury flared up this month, and the team announced Birdsell will require surgery.
Cubs Cagey About Birdsell Injury
While the Cubs were not specific about what, exactly, the surgery is for Birdsell, the fear is that it’s a UCL injury that will require a complete ligament replacement–Tommy John surgery–and could keep him out for all of next year. That announcement won’t come until after the surgery, though.
Per the Associated Press: “Cubs assistant general manager Jared Banner made the announcement Tuesday before the team opened a three-game series at San Francisco. Banner said Birdsell would have the procedure done by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, but didn’t provide details of the extent of the surgery or offer a timeline for Birdsell’s return.”
Banner is quoted as saying: “We’ll have more information after the surgery. After the surgery we can talk about timelines.”
Brandon Birdsell Has Had Tommy John Before
Birdsell was impressive in his breakthrough minor-league season in 2023, when he posted a 2.77 ERA in 107.1 innings. He led the Cubs organization with 135.2 innings and 134 strikeouts with a 5.4% walk rate in 2024, pitching between Double A and Triple A.
He looked like he had done all he could in the minors and would move to the big leagues in the coming days.
MLB Pipeline tracked Birdsell’s history of injuries, which is worrisome for his big-picture outlook.
The site wrote: “Birdsell pushed his fastball into the low 90s as a Texas high school freshman, blew out his elbow as a sophomore, missed his junior season following Tommy John surgery and turned down the Astros as a 39th-rounder in 2018.
“He barely pitched as freshman at Texas A&M before spending a year at San Jacinto (Texas) JC and then strained his rotator cuff at Texas Tech in 2021. After avoiding surgery and spurning the Twins as an 11th-rounder that summer, he won Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year accolades and turned pro as a Cubs fifth-rounder in 2022.
Cubs Get Devastating Injury News on Starting Pitcher