Zavala to miss start of 2023

Aaron Zavala, the Texas Rangers second round pick in 2021, suffered a torn UCL in his elbow during Arizona Fall League play, per the beats on Twitter. Zavala had surgery (though not Tommy John surgery), and will be out until sometime in May or June.

I had wondered why Zavala had not been playing for the Surprise Saguaros after five early games, and now we know why. Zavala had seemed poised to start the 2023 season with Frisco, and potentially move up to Round Rock fairly quickly. Instead, he will miss a couple of months to start the year.

Zavala started the year at high-A Hickory and was putting up weird lines early on, walking a lot but not hitting for much average or power. He heated up as the summer went on, however, and earned a late promotion to AA Frisco, where he slashed .277/.410/.482 in 30 games.

Also per the beats, pitcher Joe Barlow had a procedure done to address a tendon issue that was contributing to the blister problems that plagued Barlow this year. Barlow should be ready for the start of spring training.