What's next for Mets, Calvin Ziegler after Tommy John Surgery
Mets pitching prospect Calvin Ziegler will be undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. It has been a difficult last 12 months for the No. 16 prospect in the system.
Prior to the 2023 season, he had surgery for bone spurs in his pitching elbow, and while rehabbing that he tore his quad. He worked incredibly hard to reach a stated goal of getting into a game before the season ended and was successful. He appeared in one game at the very end of the Low-A St. Lucie season and struck out the side.
He reported to spring training in good health and his stuff ticked up from where it was the past couple of years. In bullpen sessions, his fastball velocity was up to 98 mph.
Ziegler always had the swing-and-miss 12-to-6 curveball and was tinkering with a cutter while working to figure out whether a circle changeup or split-change was a better fit for his repertoire.
He was highlighted by making the Mets Spring Breakout roster, a spring training showcase where each team played the best prospects in their systems. In that game against the Nationals' system, Ziegler got the save by pitching a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.
Ziegler started the 2024 season with High-A Brooklyn and had two outings spanning six innings without allowing a hit, walking two and striking out 13.
Organizationally, as tough as it is, it is next man up.
The Mets' system has taken a big step forward in the eyes of evaluators for the pitching depth in the system. Recently, Christian Scott was moved into the top 100 prospects in the sport by Baseball America.
But even less regarded pitching prospects nationally will have to step up to fill the gap created by Ziegler’s injury. Sometimes a tough situation for one creates a great opportunity for another.
The unfortunate reality of Tommy John Surgery for pitchers is that it used to be looked at as a 12-month recovery type of injury, but it is realistically more of a 15-to-16-month recovery to get back into game action.
Based on Ziegler’s previously shown work ethic, I expect he will do his best to push that timeline, but the most realistic timeframe for the righty to get back into game action if things go well is in the second half of the 2025 season when he will still be only 22 years old.
