Rays righty Kittredge to undergo Tommy John surgery
MINNEAPOLIS -- Friday was another tough day for a Rays team already reeling from injuries.
Reliever Andrew Kittredge will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, manager Kevin Cash announced before Friday’s game against the Twins. The news came after catcher Mike Zunino was placed on the injured list earlier in the day with left shoulder inflammation.
Kittredge and Zunino were 2021 All-Stars for Tampa Bay.
Kittredge, 32, was placed on the injured list on Thursday, with Cash saying that medical imaging revealed a loose body in the right-hander’s throwing elbow. Surgery was likely, but now Kittredge will have elbow reconstruction surgery and is out for the rest of the season.
“There’s no doubt it is frustrating, just because we lean on Kitt so much,” Cash said after Thursday’s news. “We felt like he came back, he was in a good spot, and then the next day after his outing, his arm just kind of locked up on him.”
Kittredge was 3-1 with five saves and a 3.15 ERA in 17 games. He returned from the 15-day injured list on Sunday after missing more than two weeks due to low back tightness.
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Kittredge reported Wednesday that he couldn’t fully extend his arm, Cash said.
Losing Kittredge is a blow to a bullpen that is already without high-leverage relievers Nick Anderson, JT Chargois, Pete Fairbanks and J.P. Feyereisen. Anderson (right elbow surgery), Chargois (left oblique tightness) and Fairbanks (torn right lat muscle) are on the 60-day injured list and are likely out until at least July.
Feyereisen (right shoulder impingement) might return by the end of June.
Zunino had been playing through the soreness in his shoulder for nearly a month. He was given a couple of days off after Monday’s off-day before returning to catch starter Shane McClanahan on Thursday. After reporting that he was still feeling the symptoms, the team decided to shut him down.
“It got to the point where it’s affecting everything a little bit, even catching,” Cash said Friday. “So definitely swinging. Feel like we want to calm it down, and hopefully it’s a shorter stint.”
After hitting 33 home runs with an .860 OPS last year, Zunino was hitting .148 with five home runs and a .499 OPS in 36 games this season.