Brewers right-hander Abner Uribe announced on his Instagram that he underwent season-ending knee surgery, as relayed on X by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Unfortunately the 2024 season has come to an end for me,” the post says.
It was reported just over a month ago that Uribe would require surgery to fix a right lateral meniscus tear in his knee. At the time, it wasn’t known what kind of return timeline he would be looking at, as it would depend on what doctors found once the procedure began. President of baseball operations Matt Arnold said it could have been something as mild as “a light cleanup” but that evidently hasn’t come to pass and he won’t be able to return again in 2024.
Uribe, now 24, had a strong debut with the Brewers in 2023. He tossed 30 2/3 innings, allowing just 1.76 earned runs per nine. His 15.7% walk rate was certainly on the high side but he also punched out 30.7% of batters faced and got grounders on 53% of balls in play.
But 2024 has been more tumultuous. It started out well for Uribe, as closer Devin Williams required a stint on the injured list and the Brewers gave Uribe a shot in the role. His first three appearances this year all resulted in him recording a save, but things got rockier from there. His results tapered off and he also received a six-game suspension for his part in a brawl with the Rays.
Uribe was optioned to the minors on May 1, the same day he received that suspension. At that point, despite the strong start to the year, he had a 6.91 ERA through 14 1/3 innings. He was still getting lots of ground balls but his 21.2% strikeout rate was well below last year’s pace and his already-problematic walk rate jumped even higher to 18.2%.
His six-game suspension was reduced to four games but he hasn’t yet served it. Suspensions for on-field violations require the team to play a man short, so the Brewers still have to find some time in the future to recall Uribe and have him on the roster serving his suspension while they play shorthanded. Until then, the suspension will remain hanging over him in a state of limbo.
On top of his shaky performance, the suspension and getting sent to the minors, Uribe now has to focus on a lengthy injury rehab. Because he was injured on optional assignment, he’s not currently collecting major league pay or service time. Since he’s out for the year, the Brewers could recall him at some point and transfer him to the 60-day injured list. Doing so would open up a 40-man roster spot for them, but it would also require them to give Uribe that big league pay and service time.
He came into this year with 86 days of service and added another 34 earlier this year, putting him at 120. It takes 172 days for a player to roll over a year, so he’s 52 shy of that right now. There are 73 days left in the 2024 season. He is burning his second option year here in 2024 but will still have one option remaining for the future.