Red Sox pitching prospect Cade Feeney likely to miss all of 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John, internal brace procedure
While making an appearance on the “To the Show We Go” Baseball podcast, presented by Beyond the Monster, Red Sox pitching prospect Cade Feeney revealed that he underwent Tommy John surgery with an internal brace last month.
“They reconstructed it and then put a brace over the top of it,” Feeney said of his right ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the opening segment of the episode. “So it’s kind of like the new hybrid they’ve been doing for the last couple of years.”
When asked about the recovery time involved with the procedure, Feeney said he would miss anywhere between 12-15 months. The right-hander is expected to miss the entire 2025 season before he will return to action later next year.
“It works out perfectly where I’ll get a full year and then get a month off before offseason workouts,” said Feeney. “It’ll help my arm kind of just catch up and rest when everything’s ready to go and then start fresh that next season.”
Boston selected Feeney in the 13th round (388th overall) during the 2023 draft out of North Dakota State. He made his professional debut in the Red Sox system that summer, tossing one scoreless relief inning pitching in the Florida Complex League.
Feeney, 23, began the season with the Greenville Drive, and in 20 appearances, he recorded a 3.66 ERA with 32 strikeouts to just two walks over 32 innings out of the bullpen, holding opposing hitters to a .220 against him. The righty added three saves to his stat sheet before seeing his season come to an end on June 22 with a right elbow strain in July.
The 6-foot, 195-pound reliever offers a four-pitch mix on the mound that’s headlined by his fastball, which topped out at 95 mph this season. He also mixes in a changeup, sweeper, and slider to keep batters guessing at the plate.
“This year it topped out at 95,” Feeney said about his increase in his fastball’s velocity from last season. “I think it was like 93.2 (mph), which was up. I think my college average fastball was like 90.8 (mph), topping out at 94 (mph) a couple of times. So yeah, velo was up, and kind of my biggest thing was mobility. Like hip mobility, I came in pretty tight. Like all the trainers know, when they stretch me, it's not good. I got to get moving better. And that was kind of the emphasis that kind of helped with the velo jump.”
With a long recovery process ahead of him, Feeney is focused on getting healthy and playing baseball again.
“I’m probably looking forward most to competing, getting back to that level of someone other than your teammates in the batter’s box,” Feeney responded. “That’s ultimately why I play baseball. I just love one-on-one competing. So that’s definitely what I’m going to miss most this next year, but I’ll be looking forward to that.”
