Guardians pitching prospect Khal Stephen will undergo a UCL-related surgery this week, team president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told reporters (including MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins). Dr. Keith Meister is performing the surgery, and it won’t be known until the procedure is underway if Stephen will need an internal brace or a full Tommy John surgery.
A brace procedure has a usual timeline of 12-13 months, while a TJ surgery is in the 13-14 month range. Stephen’s ability to pitch during the 2027 season is therefore more likely if he needs only an internal brace, yet regardless, it’s still a tough setback for the right-hander in his second season of pro ball.
The Blue Jays selected Stephen with the 59th overall pick of the 2024 draft, then dealt the young righty to Cleveland in a one-for-one swap for Shane Bieber in advance of last year’s trade advance. It was a win-now move for the Jays that helped them almost win a World Series title, and unexpectedly a second year of Bieber’s services after the veteran passed on an opt-out clause last fall. (Bieber’s arm issues this season have subsequently made his decision a lot less surprising in hindsight.)
Since Bieber was still recovering from a Tommy John surgery at the time of the trade, the Guardians chose to save some money and add a promising arm in Stephen by swinging the deal. The 23-year-old Stephen looked to be making good progress in posting a 3.44 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate, and 9.8% walk rate over 55 innings with Double-A Akron this year before his elbow issue sent him to the injured list last month.
MLB Pipeline ranks Stephen as the fifth-best prospect in Cleveland’s farm system, while Baseball America is a little less optimistic with their 12th-place ranking. It wouldn’t have been out of the question for Stephen to make his big league debut even before the end of 2026 if he’d stayed healthy, yet the 2028 season might now be the more realistic target date for Stephen’s first crack at the Show.
