Twins' Chris Paddack Undergoes Season-Ending Tommy John Surgery on Elbow Injury

The Minnesota Twins rotation suffered a significant blow on Wednesday as Chris Paddack underwent Tommy John surgery, putting an end to his 2022 season. 

Paddack was moved to the 60-day injured list last week. 

This marks the second Tommy John surgery of Paddack's career. He also had the procedure in July 2016 when he was the San Diego Padres' No. 8 prospect. 

The Padres traded Paddack, who made his MLB debut in 2019, reliever Emilio Pagan and starter Brayan Medina to the Twins in April in exchange for reliever Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker. The right-hander went 1-2 in five starts for Minnesota this season, posting a 4.03 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 20 strikeouts across 22.1 innings. 

The Twins were hoping Paddack would add some depth to their rotation, but the club has rotated through a number of pitchers due to injuries. In addition to Paddack, Bailey Ober is on the 10-day IL with a groin strain, Kenta Maeda is on the 60-day IL after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Randy Dobnak is on the 60-day IL with a finger ailment. 

Minnesota's projected rotation entering the 2022 season included Paddack, Ober, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan and Chris Archer. Aside from those five, Dylan Bundy, Josh Winder and Devin Smeltzer have started at least one game for the team this year. 

Before joining the Twins, Paddack had a promising career with the Padres, posting a 4.21 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 310 strikeouts in 308 innings across 61 games. 

Paddack is on a one-year, $2.25 million deal this season and is eligible for two years of arbitration before becoming an unrestricted free agent following the 2024 campaign. Considering he also missed the end of the 2021 season with an elbow ailment, it's hard to imagine he'll receive much of a raise in 2023. 

Despite injuries to members of their rotation, the Twins have gotten out to a solid start this year, going 22-16, which is good for first in the AL Central.