One of the most significant moves of the Braves offseason was their acquisition of Jarred Kelenic in a trade with the Mariners.
The trade was essentially a salary dump. The Braves took on the salaries of Evan White and Marco Gonzales — two players who are no longer with the organization — for Kelenic. However, Atlanta did also include 2022 second-round pick Cole Phillips in the deal as a sweetener.
Phillips was highly regarded prior to the draft, but he had just undergone Tommy John surgery, so he has not even thrown a pitch professionally. Unfortunately, that’s going to continue for quite a while, as it’s being reported that Phillips went under the knife for a second time and may not even pitch until 2026.
I've received word from a source that #Mariners prospect Cole Phillips, acquired in the Jarred Kelenic trade with the Braves in December, underwent a second Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago and is expected to miss the entirety of the 2024 season as well as a portion of 2025.
— Ty Dane Gonzalez (@TyDaneGonzalez) February 16, 2024
This is just a brutal blow for Cole Phillips, who had a ton of upside coming out of the draft. Now, he’s facing an uphill battle to even make it to the majors. The good news is he’s still 20 years old, so he’ll only be 22 years old by the time he recovers.
But as we’ve seen with talented guys like Michael Soroka, that much time off can be damning to a young pitcher. It takes a special kind of mental fortitude to essentially miss four years of baseball and come back the same. Cole Phillips is a player I’ll be keeping an eye on in the future because if he can make it through this, it will be one of the best bounce back stories in the game.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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