Cubs Reliever To Have 2nd Straight Season-Ending Surgery; Out Since 2021

Once a prized relief prospect, he hasn't pitched since 2021, and now will have to wait until 2024 before seeing a big league mound again. Brutal news for Chicago Cubs reliever Codi Heuer, who suffered an elbow fracture earlier this week during a Triple-A rehab outing. 

Not good re: Codi Heuer. pic.twitter.com/LUe5uzcQ42

— Brad (@ballskwok) June 21, 2023

“We all saw it,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “You knew in real-time that he’d done something serious. And my heart breaks for him given how hard he worked to get back.”  

Heuer has now undergone season-ending surgery for the second straight year, after missing out on the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery. The reports are that the UCL was unaffected by this latest injury. 

Heuer had thrown 12.2 innings at Triple-A this season, though with mixed results. He had a 7.82 ERA and had big trouble controlling the walks, as he issued 7.8 free passes per nine innings. But he was also striking out 10.7 per nine. 

The now-26-year-old Heuer was seen as a future closer in the Chicago White Sox system after a 2020 season in the majors that saw him post a 1.52 ERA in 23.2 innings, with a 25:9 K/BB ratio, while holding batters to an incredibly stingy .145 average, and .433 OPS. 

But the Pale Hose traded him to the Cubs in a rare cross-town trade at the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for then-Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel. The Cubs also got Nick Madrigal in that deal, one of those trades that turned out to be a disaster for both sides. 

Photo: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports