Shoulder problems sidelined Graterol on the injured list for over 71 percent of the regular season, and knocked him out of the first two rounds of the playoffs as well.
Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol had surgery on Thursday to repair the labrum in his right shoulder, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Graterol himself announced the surgery on Twitter, and the team followed, noting that he’s expected to return to the mound in the second half of the 2025 season.
Shoulder issues plagued Graterol for the bulk of the 2024 season, beginning in spring training as right shoulder inflammation sidelined him on the injured list for the first 112 games of the season.
After returning from that injury, Graterol strained his right hamstring in his first game back, on August 6, which sidelined him for another five weeks.
Graterol pitched only seven regular season games for the Dodgers in 2024, and allowed two runs with seven strikeouts in his 7⅓ innings. He was placed on the injured list again during the final week of the season with more right shoulder inflammation, which also knocked Graterol out for both the National League Division Series and National League Championship Series.
“Ever since he’s been back, it’s been kind of touch and go — good, then not good,” manager Dave Roberts said in late September. “What that looks like for the rest of the season? I just don’t know. I think it’s going to be a week to week situation.”
By the World Series, Graterol’s shoulder was feeling good enough to add him back to the roster, and he pitched 2⅓ innings in three appearances against the Yankees.
“He’s worked really hard to try to get back. Obviously this year to date has not gone the way any of us would have liked, but the fact that he has had the stuff and been able to bounce back like he has in this last week gives us confidence that he’s healthy,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said prior to Game 1 of the World Series. “And when he’s healthy, he is very additive and helpful to us winning baseball games.”
Graterol allowed just one run during the series, which came in Game 5 in New York in an uncharacteristically wild outing for Graterol, who tied his career high with three walks.
He’s been a key cog in the Dodgers bullpen for the better part of his five years with Los Angeles, with a 2.78 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 190⅔ innings, with 148 strikeouts, 42 walks, and 11 saves.
Graterol is one of five pitchers on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster who are expected to miss all or a significant portion of next season after surgical procedures, along with Emmet Sheehan, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, and Gavin Stone. That doesn’t include Clayton Kershaw, who will return but hasn’t yet re-signed and had surgeries on his left foot and left knee on November 6.
With four years, 167 days of major league service time, Graterol has two more years of salary arbitration eligibility remaining before free agency.