The Rockies provided a brutal injury update on Friday night. Manager Warren Schaeffer tells Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette that Chase Dollander is expected to require surgery to repair UCL damage in his elbow. The Rox haven’t scheduled the surgery date yet, as Schaeffer indicated the righty has one more pre-operation appointment in the coming days.
Dollander has been out since the middle of May with an elbow sprain. They transferred him to the 60-day IL this afternoon when they promoted Sean Sullivan. Schaeffer indicated that while the team was initially optimistic that Dollander could avoid surgery, the injury hasn’t healed as they hoped.
It’s about as bad an injury development as the Rockies could have. Dollander is arguably the most player in the organization. The ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft, he has the highest ceiling of any pitcher on the club. Dollander struggled with Coors Field as a rookie. He had seemingly figured things out in year two, working to a 3.89 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents across 44 innings.
More to come.
