Cubs Pitcher Undergoes Third Arm Surgery, 2023 Season is Over Before it Started

The 2023 Chicago Cubs ended spring training relatively healthy, starting the regular season without Seiya Suzuki, Brandon Hughes and Kyle Hendricks, but the first two may be back in a week or two. However, it has been a tough month or so when it comes to injuries to a handful of prospects in the past month.

On Monday night, Cubs pitching prospect Ben Leeper announced on his Instagram account that his 2023 season is over after undergoing surgery on his pitching arm. While Leeper did not specify what the surgery was, it is possible that it may very well have been Tommy John surgery.

Injuries obviously suck for everyone, but you have to feel especially bad for Leeper, who has already had two previous Tommy John surgeries. Coming back from what may be a third elbow procedure, while not impossible, is going to be extremely difficult.

The 25-year-old pitcher was in big league camp with the Cubs in spring training and had worked himself into a position where he could have been called up to the majors for the first time in his career some time during the 2023 season.

Leeper had already had two Tommy John surgeries by the time the 2020 MLB Draft came around and he went un-drafted. The Cubs signed him as an un-drafted free agent and in 2021 the righty was one of the best relief prospects in the team’s minor league system. Leeper recorded a 1.27 ERA in 27 appearances, striking out 53 batters in 35 innings. Leeper was almost un-hittable when he went from Double-A Tennessee to Triple-A, posting a 1.31 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .091 batting average in 20.2 innings.

But even in his successful debut in the minors, Leeper was sidelined with an injury that cut his 2021 season short. Leeper was placed on the injured list after last pitching on Aug. 3, 2021, and he would not return until the following season. In 2022, Leeper’s numbers took a hit, ending the year with a 4.50 ERA in 46 innings, striking out 57 batters in 42 relief appearances with the Iowa Cubs.

But the fact remained that Leeper showed he had MLB quality stuff to be part of the Cubs bullpen at some point. Cubs fans got to see glimpses of Leeper’s pitching arsenal during this past spring training.

Leeper pitched in two spring training games with the Cubs, striking out three and allowing two hits in two innings.

Overall, this just flat out sucks. You take a step back and realize Leeper had already come back from two major arm surgeries, went un-drafted and then broke out, had a few more minor injuries, but still persevered to get back on to the Cubs radar in 2023, only for him to have to start over again after a third surgery.

All the best to Ben Leeper and hopefully he is able to come back and live out his baseball dream with the Cubs.