Left hand Patrick Sandoval has been through a lot in the past year and recently discussed the twists and turns he went through on the MassLive Fenway Rundown podcast, as summarized by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
The southpaw had surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament in July of last year and perhaps the most notable thing he said this week was that he had internal brace surgery and not a full Tommy John procedure. When his surgery was reported last summer, it wasn’t 100% clear if he would need a full UCL reconstruction or another internal brace procedure.
Some in the media simply use “Tommy John surgery” as a blanket term to cover any type of UCL surgery but the difference can be noticeable. Internal brace surgery can sometimes allow a player to return to play a few months sooner than a full reconstruction. That’s usually not a big difference but it could have an impact on Sandoval’s case. Full Tommy John surgery usually takes about 14 months to recover from, a timeline that would force Sandoval to return in September. But since he had a different internal brace, it seems that he and the Red Sox have high hopes for what he can contribute in the second half of this year.
That timeline also harkens back to the Angels’ curious decision not to tender, which was surprising if it happened. They could keep Sandoval under contract between 2025 and 2026. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to make $5.9MM this year. Since he wouldn’t be able to raise much in 2025, that would limit his ability to increase his salary in 2026, meaning he could have been kept for two years at a total of $12-15MM.
That wouldn’t be a bad price for a pitcher as talented as Sandoval, even if his recovery ends up hitting a cliff and especially because of his 2026 contributions. In the 2021 to 2024 seasons, Sandoval threw 460 innings, allowing a 3.80 earned run per nine. His 22.6% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate were all very close to the league average.
But the Angels decided to just move on, didn’t offer Sandoval a contract and sent him to free agency, which caught Sandoval. “I didn’t expect it at all,” he said. “I received a call two minutes before the tender deadline. My agent had informed me that he had decided not to tender. I really didn’t know how to feel. I understood, coming back from injury, they might not want to pay me that money so I can just sit and prepare for a year. And they have the right to do that.”
While the Angels weren’t keen on the idea of paying for Sandoval’s recovery, other teams were. “The whole free agent experience was crazy,” Sandoval said. “You don’t expect it. I think I still have two years until I get that chance to choose the team I want to play for. The whole recruiting process or whatever you want to call it, it took me back to the high school days of having colleges come and talk to you. “
Sandoval reportedly received some interest from the Phillies but ended up signing with the Red Sox, a two-year deal that guarantees him $18.25MM, $5.5MM this year and $12.75MM next year. That’s likely a few million more than he would have made had the Angels just kept him, so it seems to have worked out for the lefty, even though it may have been a little confusing at first.
The Red Sox appear to be entering 2025 with several wild cards on the pitching staff. Garrett Crochet again Tanner Houck both had off seasons in 2024 but pushed their workloads higher. Walker Buehler he returned from long-term surgery in 2024 but with mediocre results. Lucas Giolito again Liam Hendriks they missed last year due to their surgery. Garrett Whitlock he missed a lot for the same reason.
They figure to open the season with a rotation mix of Crochet, Houck, Buehler, Brian Bello again Cutter Crawford. Giolito will jump in there, perhaps as soon as Opening Day, and Sandoval may be a few months behind him.
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