CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians starting pitcher Ben Lively needs reconstructive surgery on his right elbow and could miss 12-16 months in recovery, the club announced Friday.
Lively, 33, was examined earlier this week by elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas. The exam confirmed the presence of a flexor tendon injury in Lively’s right forearm while also detailing insufficiencies in Lively’s ulnar collateral ligament.
Meister and Guardians team doctors told Lively the UCL injury places added stress on the flexor muscles. They recommended UCL reconstruction and flexor tendon repair.
Surgery has not yet been scheduled, according to the club. Expected return to play timetables in similar cases run 12-16 months.
Lively exited Cleveland’s May 12 game against Milwaukee before throwing a pitch in the fourth inning. Manager Stephen Vogt revealed afterward that the issue had been bothering Lively as far back as his previous start in Washington. He was placed on the 15-day injured list on May 13.
Lively was 2-2 with a 3.22 ERA in nine starts for the Guardians after posting a 13-10 record in 29 outings last season.
Vogt said Lively felt discomfort when he was removed from his May 6 start against the Nationals, but was able to go through his normal work progression between outings before the May 12 start against Milwaukee.
“We knew that it had been going on, but it wasn’t like a huge red flag or anything,” Vogt said. “And then it just came back on one pitch in the outing (Monday).”
Cleveland re-shuffled its starting rotation in the wake of Lively’s injury, calling up right-hander Slade Cecconi who was on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Columbus after recovering from a spring training oblique injury. Cecconi struck out eight and allowed three earned runs in five innings in his Guardians debut Saturday against Cincinnati.
For Lively, the injury represents the latest setback in a career that began with the Reds organization 12 years ago and was resurrected after three seasons with the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization. Lively returned to the majors in 2023 and joined Cleveland as a free agent ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Last year, the Florida native rescued Cleveland’s starting rotation leading the club with a career-high 13 wins while finishing second on the club in innings (151) and starts (29). He posted career bests in ERA (3.81), strikeouts (118) and WHIP (1.25) and logged nine quality starts after totaling 13 combined in his career previously.
