Ricky

Tiedemann

The 23-year-old felt elbow soreness in February and stopped his build-up. Given his injury history, the Blue Jays will “be cautious with [him], and this could potentially delay the start to his season, but he’s back on track now.” We’ll wait to see how he feels when he starts throwing at 100 percent before we get overly excited.

Tiedemann was widely regarded as one of baseball’s premier pitching prospects just a few years ago before a cascade of significant arm injuries stalled his career. The 23-year-old southpaw was shut down from throwing earlier this spring after experiencing renewed elbow soreness. At this point it’s impossible to forecast whether he’ll be able to stay healthy long enough to make a sustained impact at the highest level.

The left-hander had an MRI that came back clean, but the Blue Jays will “back off” his throwing for a week. Despite the clear MRI, the soreness is obviously concerning given Tiedemann’s long history with injuries. We hope the 23-year-old gets back onto the mound soon, but his career arc is shaping up to be one of the major “what ifs” in recen years.

One of baseball’s premier pitching prospects before undergoing Tommy John surgery last August, Tiedemann will be protected from selection in next month’s Rule 5 Draft. The 23-year-old southpaw is expected to be ready for the start of spring training but will need to build up his workload before he’s an option for the Blue Jays’ pitching staff. His swing-and-miss raw stuff makes him an intriguing name to watch next spring, though he’s unlikely to reach Toronto before the latter part of next season barring any setbacks.

One of baseball’s premier pitching prospects before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2024, Tiedemann progressed to throwing off a mound late last season but never returned to minor league action. The 23-year-old southpaw’s swing-and-miss raw stuff makes him an intriguing name to watch in Grapefruit League action, though he’s unlikely to reach Toronto before the latter part of next season barring any setbacks.

The Blue Jays’ former top prospect had Tommy John surgery in August of last year, so it’s nice to see him already getting on the mound in a game setting. He allowed one hit and struck out one while facing three batters on Tuesday. The Blue Jays will be cautious with their 22-year-old prospect and take his rehab slowly, but there’s a good chance Tiedemann will pitch in some Double-A or Triple-A games before the end of the 2025 season.

It seems like a long shot as Tiedemann underwent Tommy John surgery in July, but it’s not a foregone conclusion he couldn’t. Those games almost assuredly wouldn’t be with the Blue Jays, but the 22-year-old still has the upside to be a fantasy contributor in the latter part of the decade.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider confirmed Friday that Tiedeman underwent a traditional Tommy John ligament replacement procedure, not a hybrid UCL repair with an internal brace, which would’ve carried a shorter recovery timetable. The 21-year-old top pitching prospect is likely to miss the entire 2025 season.

It’s an absolute gut punch for the Blue Jays as Tiedemann will likely wind up missing the entire 2025 season given the timing of the procedure. The 21-year-old southpaw was universally-regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball entering the year and wound up being limited to just eight starts this season due to an onslaught of injuries. There’s an argument to be made that he’ll wind up being a strong buy-low candidate for dynasty managers over the next few months, but after so much missed time it’s nearly impossible to predict whether Tiedemann’s stuff will ever bounce back to previously-elite levels.

After a first visit last week revealed no structural damage, the Blue Jays top pitching prospect is set to visit Dr. Keith Meister in Texas and Dr. Neal ElAttrache in California this week in an attempt to confirm the earlier diagnosis. The Blue Jays had hopes Tiedemann would pitch again this season, but we’ll have to wait for this week’s additional check-ups to make sure.