Cardinals right-hander Hunter Dobbins underwent reconstructive surgery Wednesday on his right elbow, a procedure that will sideline him for approximately 12 months and remove him from St. Louis’ 2027 rotation plans.
The club said Dr. Keith Meister repaired the ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon in Dallas. It was the second operation on that elbow. Dobbins had Tommy John surgery in 2021 as a junior at Texas Tech, before the Boston Red Sox drafted him in the eighth round. Meister performed that procedure as well.
Manager Oli Marmol said the second surgery on the same joint still carries a year-long timetable.
“Because they’ve gone in there for the second time, we’re still looking at about a 12-month return,” Marmol said.
That projection leaves open a late-2027 return at best and could push Dobbins’ next full season in the major-league rotation to 2028. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the latest operation repaired the previously reconstructed ligament and the flexor tendon rather than replacing the earlier graft outright. The expected recovery, officials said, remains 12 months either way.
Dobbins last pitched Aug. 21 at Philadelphia. He departed after one pitch in the fifth inning — a 92.5 mph fastball to Trea Turner — with tightness that began in warmups and did not ease. He said at the time the sensation differed from the 2021 UCL tear. The Cardinals placed him on the 15-day injured list the following day. After additional evaluation in St. Louis, he traveled to Dallas this week for a second opinion from Meister. Surgery followed Wednesday.
“We’ve had a decent idea of where it was headed, but wanted to be absolutely sure,” Marmol said.
In 11 appearances and eight starts for St. Louis, Dobbins went 3-3 with a 3.67 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 52 strikeouts in 54 innings. He also recorded one save. Those figures made him one of the more reliable pieces in a rotation that has spent much of 2026 managing injuries and innings limits.
The Cardinals acquired Dobbins in December from Boston, along with right-handers Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita, in the trade that sent first baseman Willson Contreras to the Red Sox. Dobbins had posted a 4.13 ERA in 61 innings as a Boston rookie in 2025 before a torn ACL ended that season at the All-Star break. St. Louis viewed him as the most major-league-ready arm coming back in the deal and a candidate to compete for a starting job in 2027. That calculation has changed.
The Cardinals’ starting pitching already ranks among the weaker groups in the National League. Andre Pallante is expected back from his own elbow issue, but Dobbins can no longer be counted as rotation depth next spring. The organization will enter the offseason needing to address starting pitching without him in the mix.
Dobbins has previously returned from Tommy John surgery and a torn ACL. A second elbow procedure at 27 presents a longer and less certain path. For now, the Cardinals lose a pitcher who had given them usable innings in a difficult season, and they lose a name they had hoped to write into next year’s plans.
