The Marlins announced to reporters, including SportsGrid’s Craig Mish, that lefty Robby Snelling he will have Tommy John surgery. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list earlier today and will remain there for the rest of the year. He will likely be out until the 2027 All-Star break.
Obviously it’s bad news for any pitcher when Tommy John surgery is needed but it’s a very painful time for Snelling. He spent the last few years working his way up in the minor leagues and became one of the game’s top pitching prospects. Miami called him up to the majors earlier this month and he made his major league debut. But he struggled after his start and was diagnosed with a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament, a ligament that was replaced with Tommy John surgery.
Instead of building on his major league record, Snelling is now going to make a temporary overhaul with one game on his stat sheet. TJS typically requires 14 months or more of recovery time, so Snelling will miss the rest of the 2026 season and possibly at least half of 2027.
For Snelling personally, the one silver lining is that this injury occurred shortly after his promotion. Being in the IL big leagues, he will collect major league salary and service time throughout his rehab process. If the injury had happened a few weeks ago when he was still a child, it would not have happened.
That’s a slight positive for Snelling but a negative for the Marlins. They called up Snelling in May, so he wasn’t in a position to get a full year of service this season. That means his window to control the club will include this year and six more seasons. He would have been a mainstay in the Marlins rotation at that point. Even if he eventually reached the trade zone, as many in Miami did, that window of control would be part of his eventual trade appeal.
Instead, he will now be on the shelf for most of the first two years of that seven-year window. He’ll still have plenty of time to get back on track and prove himself as a viable big league arm, but this will remove the club’s control window.
The Marlins will also now have to continue without Snelling in their lineup for a long time. Before too long, they were overflowing with depth to the rotation. They feel good enough about their arsenal to trade Edward Cabrera again Ryan Weathers in the near future, allowing them to add sin and hope. Even with those trades, they come in a season with an inclusive exchange Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Max Meyer, Chris Paddack again Janson Junk. Their minor league depth is included Braxton GarrettSnelling and colleagues hope Thomas White.
But more often than not, the residue has evaporated. Fish appointed Paddack to be tasked with opening Snelling’s place. When Snelling hit IL, they called up Garrett, but Garrett had two bad starts and was elected back to the minors. White was placed in minor league IL on Tuesday, so it’s not a short-term option.
The garbage started for the Marlins yesterday. They have Alcantara, Pérez and Meyer slated to start the next three games. On Sunday, they’ll need some kind of plan, whether that’s the bullpen or the first game. Tyler Phillips has been getting more innings out of the bullpen and could be part of the solution. In addition to Garrett, they have it Dax Fulton, Ryan Gusto again Bradley Blalock in a career of your choice. Those three all have ERAs north of 4.40 in Triple-A this year.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
