UCL Injury Forces Season-Ending Surgery for Reds’ Carson Spiers

Reds right-hander Carson Spiers is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, which will officially end his 2025 season and likely keep him off a major league mound for most—if not all—of 2026, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Spiers had been out since April with a shoulder impingement, and after beginning a rehab assignment in early July, he was shut down again due to biceps soreness. Unfortunately, further imaging revealed damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, requiring the lengthy recovery associated with Tommy John surgery.

Though Spiers hasn’t pitched in months, he’s continued to accrue major league service time on the Reds’ injured list and will keep doing so through his recovery. Given the typical 13–15 month timeline for UCL surgery recovery, it’s unlikely he returns before 2027. A brief late-season appearance in 2026 is possible, but far from certain.

Now in his third season with the Reds, Spiers originally joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2020—part of a group of players left in limbo when the MLB Draft was shortened to five rounds due to the pandemic. He made his big league debut with a few outings in late 2023 and took on a larger role in 2024, throwing 90 2/3 innings across 22 games, including 10 starts.

In 2025, Spiers only managed 13 1/3 innings over three appearances (two starts) before landing on the IL. Though his ERA sits at 5.69 across 117 career MLB innings, Spiers has served as a versatile arm, capable of starting, eating innings in long relief, or working in piggyback roles. His numbers in Triple-A have been slightly better, though his 5.94 ERA over 16 2/3 innings this year with Louisville came during rehab, where the focus was more on recovery than results.