Per reporting by Alex Stumpf, who covers the Pittsburgh Pirates for MLB.com, reliever Dauri Moreta has underwent UCL surgery, and will be out for all of 2024.

His official recovery time is 14-16 months. If he takes all 16 months to recover, he would not be available to the Pirates until mid-July of 2025.

The Pirates were expecting Moreta to miss some time after he suffered on March 5th in spring training. The reliever was dealing with a ligament injury which was clearly affecting his ability to throw. His velocity plummeted and his control was disastrous.

Moreta was placed on the 60-day Injured List a few days ago. It’s safe to say he will be out for a little more than 60 days.

Moreta pitched in 58 innings for the Pirates last season, his first in Pittsburgh. He recorded a 3.72 ERA while earning a 5-2 record. He struck out 76 batters over that time, accounting for a 31.8% strikeout rate.

He limited opposing batters to a .187 batting average and put up a 3.17 strikeout to walk ratio.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Moreta was acquired by the Pirates in a trade for infielder Kevin Newman. He became a fan favorite for his energy and excitement, and his nickname “Big Bank” only grew in fame.

His loss is a crushing blow to a Pirates bullpen that is considered the strength of this team. It does, however, mean bigger roles for someone like Carmen Mlodzinski, who was called up midway through the season.

Colin Holderman, Aroldis Chapman, and Ryan Borucki could also chip in to cover the innings lost by Moreta.

(Featured photo from AP)