Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski commented on reliever Carson Smith’s season-ending Tommy John surgery prior to Tuesday night’s game, most notably stating that the MRI from March 21 looked noticeably different than the one that sent him back to the disabled list on Friday. Over those three appearances – spanning just two-and-two-thirds innings – Smith allowed one unearned run while striking out two and walking one.
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Tommy John surgery’s long recovery time means Smith could miss significant time next year as well. The procedure will likely keep him out until the middle of 2017. Smith who arrived in Boston this offseason via a trade with Seattle, would undergo ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction Tuesday.
With Smith sidelined, the Red Sox will continue to use Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara as setup men ahead of closer Craig Kimbrel.
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Smith, 26, said he began experiencing discomfort after throwing 27 pitches in one inning against the Oakland Athletics after an unusual number of warm-up pitches. “I remember when we traded for Max Scherzer they said the same thing about Max Scherzer”. In 2015, Smith posted a 2-5 record with a 2.31 ERA in 70 innings pitched for Seattle; he finished seventh among pitchers with at least 60 IP in strikeouts per nine innings (11.83). But he started the season on the 15-day disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his right forearm and then went back on the 15-day disabled list last week with right elbow soreness.
