Padres announce Andres Munoz and Reggie Lawson underwent Tommy John surgery
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
San Diego Padres’ pitcher Reggie Lawson and Nadres Munoz both had surgery on Friday.
The San Diego Padres took a hit to their bullpen today after announcing that Andres Munoz and Reggie Lawson both underwent successful Tommy John surgery on their right elbows.
Both pitchers had been in Spring Training attempting to secure a spot in the Padres bullpen but, with the surgery combined with the season close to shutting down, it seems that will unfortunately not happen.
Both injuries were relatively recent as, according to AJ Cassavell, Lawson was injured in his final outing of the spring. In contrast, Munoz’ injury came during his appearance on March 5 after throwing a slider.
The #Padres have announced that RHP’s Reggie Lawson and Andres Muñoz underwent successful ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John) today on their right elbows.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 20, 2020
The 21-year-old Munoz was always a candidate for an elbow injury with a fastball that can hit 102 MPH. He made his debut for the team last year, throwing 23 innings of relief for an ERA of 3.33 while demonstrating a fearsome ability to strike out batters with a 30.9 K%.
The strikeouts were balanced by an ability to control the strike zone, demonstrated by a walk rate of 11.3%.
Lawson is currently the 16th ranked prospect in the Padres system, according to MLB Pipeline. He spent the entirety of 2019 with the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles, going 3-1 with a 5.20 ERA.
The 22-year-old also spent time in the Arizona Fall League and showed promise, pitching 11 innings and allowing just a single run while striking out 14 batters.
Lawson appeared in two games for the Padres during the spring, tossing two innings of shutout relief while striking out three. Munoz towed the mound in just a single game, striking out two batters in an inning of scoreless relief.
With the season in doubt, Munoz and Lawson have time on their side to recover from the surgery and get back to baseball activities. However, they face a long and winding road back to the mound
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.
Well that’s a bummer.