MIAMI - Miami Marlins reliever Pete Fairbanks will undergo surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, the team announced, ending a season in which the franchise-record $13 million signing posted a 6.31 ERA - the highest of his career in a full season - and exited outings three times with nerve-related issues.
Fairbanks will be operated on by Dr. Gregory J. Pearl on a date yet to be determined. The typical recovery period for a pitcher is nine or 10 months, a timeline that almost certainly closes his chapter with Miami.
“I feel bad for Pete for the way he just finished up this year, and him trying to come back, and obviously something wasn’t right,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “I guess the good thing is now [he] found hopefully a way for him to kind of put this behind him, get back healthy. Pulling for him as he’s going through this.”
Fairbanks made 46 outings and threw 41 1/3 innings this season, recording 19 saves in 23 chances - his lowest save total since 2022. His most recent exit came in Arizona, where he again experienced right median nerve irritation, a condition he had not dealt with since his 2024 season with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Following that outing, Fairbanks described the experience in stark terms. “To lose sensation and proprioception of your arm is never a fun thing,” he said. “There’s no precise way to figure out when it happens. I just start losing proprioception and the sleeping feeling comes back.”
Thoracic outlet syndrome involves compression of nerves or blood vessels in the area between the neck and shoulder, and can cause pain, numbness in the fingers, a weak grip, cold hands and swelling. Fairbanks had described the sensation as originating in his right brachial plexus, the nerve network in the neck that supplies the chest, shoulder, arm, forearm and hand. Other major league pitchers who have undergone the same surgery include Zack Wheeler, Merrill Kelly, Stephen Strasburg, Alex Cobb, Josh Beckett and Matt Harvey.
Fairbanks’ contract, a one-year deal at $13 million, was the largest ever given by the Marlins to a reliever. A surgery date with Dr. Pearl has not yet been set.