GOODYEAR, Ariz. – When the Cincinnati Reds acquired starting pitcher Justin Dunn in the Eugenio Suárez trade with the Seattle Mariners last year, general manager Nick Krall knew that Dunn was battling a major shoulder injury. The hope was that Dunn, one of four players in the deal, would rebound and give the Reds’ rotation depth down the road.
One calendar year later, Dunn is dealing with the same issue in his right shoulder, a combination of inflammation and subscapularis. Dunn met with a medical specialist in New York this week, and he’ll be sidelined for the next couple of months as he rehabs.
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“The good news is I don’t need surgery, which is always a beautiful thing,” Dunn said. “It gives me a chance to pitch this year. The unfortunate news is I’m going to be shut down for a while. The timeframe he mentioned was a couple of months. In my spirit and I’m praying it doesn’t take that long. But we just have to give this thing time to heal. Let it heal by itself.”
The deal with the Mariners, which sent out Suárez and Jesse Winker, still looks like a success for the Reds. Starting pitching prospect Brandon Williamson has made a big leap this season and is making a strong case for the Reds’ Opening Day rotation. Jake Fraley is the Reds’ starting left fielder. Connor Phillips might be the best pitching prospect in the entire farm system.
But Dunn has only made seven starts for the Reds, and he has only pitched in seven games since the middle of the 2021 season.
“(The specialist) was making it seem that the inflammation wasn’t as bad but I believe there might be an actual tear in there, which is why it’s taking so long,” Dunn said. “He said my shoulder actually felt pretty good. It was just a couple of tests that he did that I didn’t pass. He was like, we’ve got to let it heal before we can let you pick up a ball.”
The specialist said that he had only seen one other pitcher with a similar injury. That was former Cy Young winner Dwight Gooden, who made a full recovery and pitched for 16 years in MLB. Dunn said he has always looked up to Gooden, and he said it was “comforting” to hear of another pitcher who overcame what he’s going through.
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“(The specialist) explained the surgery and it scared the (heck) out of me frankly,” Dunn said. “He said, ‘I don’t want to do this. I don’t think you need it. You’re too young. You have a lot of baseball ahead of you.’ That’s for when your back is against the wall, and you’re fighting for a couple of more years. I was very thankful to hear that.”
Dunn, 27, would have been in position to compete for a spot in the Reds’ Opening Day rotation. He’s a former top-100 prospect who posted a 3.75 ERA with the Mariners in 2021, and Dunn is looking to get healthy again and back to that form.
He says it’s been a frustrating process, but Dunn is staying the course.
“I just have to get with the team and get a plan of action for what we’re going to do,” Dunn said. “Give it the right amount of time for it to heal and if I rush this, it’s not going to be a good situation. Unfortunately, it’s just the situation we’re in. One day at a time.”
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