Dodgers Rotation Takes Hit: Righty to Miss Half a…

Dodgers right-hander Brusdar Graterol announced Friday (Spanish-language X post) that he underwent shoulder surgery Thursday without a return timeline. The club later announced that Graterol underwent right shoulder labrum surgery and isn’t expected back on the mound until the second half of the 2025 season.

The news doesn’t come as a shock, as Graterol trudged through an injury-marred 2024 season, primarily due to that shoulder. He went on the injured list at the beginning of the season with a combination of hip tightness and right shoulder inflammation. The shoulder issue was significant enough that he couldn’t return until August. In his first game of the season, he suffered a right hamstring strain that sent him back to the IL. He was activated in September but then went back on the IL yet again with more shoulder inflammation. He missed most of the postseason but was activated for the World Series.

The righty finished the year with less than 10 innings pitched. He tossed 7 1/3 frames in the regular season and added another 2 1/3 in the World Series. Though he fought through the issue enough to get on the mound a few times, he could never stay healthy for long, and it’s now clear the issue requires surgical attention.

Before 2024, Graterol established himself as a key piece of the Dodger bullpen. He posted a 2.69 earned run average over 171 appearances from 2020 to 2023. His 18.9% strikeout rate was below average, but his 5.5% walk rate was quite low, and he got grounders at an elite rate of 62.5%. Among pitchers with at least 170 innings pitched in that time, only Clay Holmes, Andre Pallante and Framber Valdez had better grounder rates.

Though he was able to contribute to the World Series victory and get himself a ring, 2024 was primarily a lost season for Graterol and he will now miss at least half of 2025 as well. He still has two arbitration seasons left, but the injuries will prevent him from significantly raising his salary. He made $2.7M this year and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for the same figure in 2025. His ability to push that farther north in 2026 will depend on how much time he misses in the coming season and how he performs when healthy.

For the Dodgers, this surgery may increase their desire to add to their pitching staff. They are already expected to start 2025 with Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone on the injured list due to surgeries performed earlier in 2024 and now Graterol’s name can be added to that list. They lost Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Joe Kelly, Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson to free agency. Kershaw will almost certainly re-sign but just underwent surgery, while Hudson won’t re-sign since he’s now retired.