Braves’ prospect Corbin Clouse recovering from shoulder surgery

Sometimes with minor league prospects, injuries fall under the radar. We prepped hard for our interview with emerging prospect and 2019 draftee Kasey Kalich earlier this year and had no idea that he was recovering from a broken scaphoid until he mentioned it to us during the segment. I will admit, I was a little embarrassed. Now, we have another case of finding out about an injury after the fact in the minors. Fellow relief prospect, Corbin Clouse, is recovering from shoulder surgery, per Brian Calloway of the Lansing State Journal.

According to the report, Clouse had the operation back in November and was a month or two away from throwing before being sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His expectation was a July return, but now he is not in the hands of the Braves’ training staff. He will, however, return to Florida next week to resume his rehabilitation. The surgery was intended to repair a tear in the front of his labrum and the scar tissue that surrounded it.

This shoulder injury helps to explain why Clouse’s development came to a complete halt in 2019. He had been the most dominant reliever in the Braves’ system the three seasons prior, posting a 1.19 ERA in 2016, a 2.53 ERA in 2017, and a 1.94 ERA in 2018. The lefty is just one stop away from the big leagues, having spent the majority of his 2019 in AAA Gwinnett, but he mightily struggled, posting a 5.52 ERA. Hopefully, Clouse can make a full recovery and get back to his dominant ways. At this rate, his earliest ETA with all the surrounding variables is likely in 2021.