The St. Louis Cardinals received difficult news on the eve of their series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Right-hander Hunter Dobbins underwent reconstructive surgery on his right elbow Wednesday to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon, according to Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Team officials indicated the 27-year-old will need about 12 months to recover, a timeline that threatens his entire 2027 season and leaves his long-term role in the rotation uncertain.
Dobbins last took the mound on August 21 in Philadelphia. He departed after throwing a single pitch in the fifth inning, later describing forearm tightness that he insisted did not feel identical to the UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery in 2021 while he was still in the Boston organization. The club placed him on the 15-day injured list the next day.
A second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, the same surgeon who operated on him five years earlier, led to the decision for another procedure. Whether the operation was a full reconstruction or a repair with an internal brace was not immediately specified, but the year-long rehab projection is typical of significant elbow work.
This season had already been a grind. Dobbins opened 2026 still recovering from an ACL injury that ended his 2025 rookie year with the Red Sox.
Once healthy, he shuttled between St. Louis and Triple-A Memphis on four separate occasions. When he pitched, he was effective. In 11 big-league appearances, eight of them starts, he posted a 3.67 ERA and 1.35 WHIP across 54 innings with 52 strikeouts.
Those numbers offered hope that the former Texas Tech product could stabilize a Cardinals staff that has searched for consistency all year.
St. Louis acquired Dobbins last offseason as part of the package that sent Willson Contreras to Boston. The deal reflected a broader effort to shed veteran contracts and rebuild around younger talent.
Contreras has thrived in Boston, while Dobbins was still trying to prove he belonged in the majors when the latest injury struck. A second elbow operation at this stage of his career raises questions about whether he returns as a starter or in a different capacity, assuming he returns at full strength at all.
The timing is especially unwelcome for a Cardinals team sitting at 70-70 and 3.5 games out of a National League Wild Card spot.
While St. Louis has shown fight recently, including a dramatic extra-inning win over the defending champion Dodgers, losing another starter further thins an already taxed pitching group. Dobbins is a candidate to move to the 60-day injured list whenever a 40-man roster spot is needed, and he is likely to begin 2027 there as well.
For now the focus shifts to rehabilitation. Twelve months of structured work will determine whether Dobbins can recapture the stuff that made him a useful mid-rotation option.
The Cardinals will hope the second surgery on the same elbow proves more durable than the first. Until then, a promising young arm is sidelined, and St. Louis must keep chasing October without him.
