Blue Jays pitching prospect to undergo season-ending elbow surgery

Brandon Barriera’s 2024 season is over, as TSN’s Scott Mitchell reports that the Blue Jays pitching prospect will undergo surgery on his left elbow next week. 

The type of surgery won’t be known until the procedure is underway and doctors can fully assess the damage, so Barriera could be facing a 14-month layoff that comes with Tommy John surgery or perhaps an internal brace surgery that would allow him to perhaps be ready for Opening Day 2025.

Selected 23rd overall in the 2022 draft, Barriera threw only 20 1/3 innings during the 2023 campaign due to biceps, elbow and shoulder injuries.  Conditioning problems may have contributed to these health issues, though Keith Law notes that Barriera had “gotten himself in way better shape” heading into spring camp this year. 

Between that limited workload and his lone appearance (1 1/3 innings) for A-level Dunedin this season, Barriera has essentially started his pro career with two lost seasons, turning the southpaw from a very promising up-and-coming arm into something of a question mark.

Barriera is still only 20 years old, of course, so there’s plenty of time for him to get on track even if it’ll be a while before he returns to the mound. 

Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both ranked Barriera as the fourth-best prospect in Toronto’s farm system and the second-best pitching prospect in their system after Ricky Tiedemann.