Padres reliever Craig Stammen suffered a torn capsule in his proper shoulder and strained sub scapula Friday, as reported by the San Diego Union Tribune’s Kevin Acee. Stammen, who simply celebrated his thirty ninth birthday, acknowledged that his “enjoying days are most likely over,” although it appears Stammen and the membership haven’t determined whether or not or to not pursue surgical procedure. The longtime Padres right-hander was in camp on a minor league deal this spring.
Stammen was a twelfth spherical choose by the Washington Nationals within the 2005 draft and commenced his profession as a starter with the Nats again in 2009. In two seasons as a starter, Stammen struggled to a 5.12 ERA that was 19% under league common, inflicting the Nationals to maneuver him to the bullpen. Stammen flourished on this position, as he posted a robust 2.80 ERA (138 ERA+) backed by a stable 3.12 FIP in 257 innings of labor from 2011-2015 following his transfer to the bullpen. Sadly, his 2015 season led to April with flexor tendon surgical procedure, and Stammen wouldn’t return to the large leagues till 2017, when he joined the Padres.
In six years as a member of the Padres bullpen, Stammen largely pitched properly en path to turning into the longest-tenured participant on the most important league roster. Along with his 394 1/3 innings of three.36 ERA ball, he was steadily cited as a pacesetter and mentor within the clubhouse and beloved all through the group. Stammen started to battle in 2022, nevertheless, as he posted a 4.43 ERA that was 15% under league common along with struggling a torn rotator cuff final season that sat him down for 2 months. This new harm has a restoration time of 4-6 months, and surgical procedure would require a good lengthier rehab course of.
Regardless of dropping Stammen for, at naked minimal, the primary half of the 2023 marketing campaign, the Padres aid corps nonetheless seems arrange properly for fulfillment headed into 2023, with Drew Pomeranz and Robert Suarez becoming a member of nearer Josh Hader in the back of San Diego’s bullpen. As beforehand talked about, Stammen was in camp on a minor league contract and was removed from a lock to make the Opening Day roster as he competed with the likes of Jose Lopez, Michel Baez, and Steven Wilson for a roster spot.
That Stammen is contemplating retirement following his newest harm is comprehensible given this the second extreme harm the righty has suffered in simply the previous few months, significantly with no clear path to huge league enjoying time upon his return. That stated, even staring down the potential for being unable to pitch competitively till his age-40 season, Stammen has not totally closed the door on making an attempt a comeback, noting to reporters, “At this level at present, I can’t think about myself as not a baseball participant… hopefully they’ll let me rehab for a short while.”
