Baltimore Orioles pitcher Felix Bautista had an emotional message for the fan base after undergoing season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery on Monday. Bautista hopes to take the mound for the Orioles again soon, per MLB insider Hector Gomez.

https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1711502013987426456

Bautista will most likely sit out the entire 2024 MLB season. The elbow injury apparently stemmed from a game against the Colorado Rockies on August 25. The Orioles promptly placed Felix Bautista in the 15-day injured list the following day. He hoped to pitch against the Texas Rangers in the ongoing ALDS, but surgery became paramount after the Orioles took a day-to-day approach.

“To Felix's credit, bless his heart, he realized there might be a window to keep his arm throwing, up and running. But we just ran out of time for this to be a feasible and successful option for the postseason, and it stopped making sense, so we went ahead and scheduled the surgery. There's nothing that changed or nothing that happened in the last couple of weeks that he's been throwing,” Orioles GM Mike Elias said on October 1.

Elias projected Felix Bautista to return in time for spring training 2025. The latter had an 8-2 win-loss record with a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves this season. The 28-year-old earned his first MLB All-Star selection in July.

The news of Felix Bautista undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery coincided with his two-year contract extension.

The Orioles finished with an American League-best 101-61 win-loss record. Baltimore is playing postseason baseball for the first time in seven years. Unfortunately, the Orioles are down 2-0 to the Rangers in the best-of-five ALDS. Hopefully, they will develop a sense of urgency and rally behind Felix Bautista now that their season is on the line.