Last season, Phillies’ stud reliever Seranthony Dominguez tore his UCL in his elbow. He was sidelined for four months of last season, and carried the injury into the offseason. After finally realizing that the reliever needs Tommy John surgery in March, there has been some mystery set back. Seranthony returned to the United States to receive this surgery earlier this year, but never ended up getting it done.
After being a starting pitcher in the minors, Dominguez rocketed his way to the majors after converting to the bullpen in spring training 2018. As a rookie that season, he appeared in 53 games, striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings and recorded a 2.95 ERA and 0.931 WHIP.
As Jim Salisbery notes, Dominguez had emerged as a major building block for the team, a power arm capable of getting big outs with the game on the line. But Dominguez was not the same pitcher in 2019. His fastball velocity suffered a slight decline and he had trouble duplicating his success from the previous year. He allowed 8.8 hits per nine innings, up from 5 the previous season, and his WHIP was 1.459 when his season ended June 5 in San Diego after his 27th appearance.
News finally broke today that Dominguez will be receiving his Tommy John surgery today.
Many pitchers do not return to their peak form after this surgery, but it can be done. Most importantly, though, we wish the best for Seranthony for a speedy recovery. Even though we wish this could have been done sooner so he did not potentially miss parts of three seasons, his health is still a priority.
Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
