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Orioles All-Star catcher Matt Wieters will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his torn ulnar-collateral ligament Tuesday, the team announced in a press release.
Given that he's not a pitcher, the timetable for a return is a bit shorter, as the expected recovery time has been announced as nine months. Basically, Wieters is out for the rest of this season but -- assuming no setbacks -- he should be good to go for the start of the 2015 season.
This news isn't entirely unexpected. Wieters has been dealing with the injury for several weeks. He hoped to build back up throwing strength and rejoin the team around the beginning of July, but he was unable to make progress in his throwing program and this past weekend had to again visit Dr. James Andrews.
Wieters ends the 2014 season with just 26 games played. He hit .308/.339/.500 (131 OPS+) with five doubles, five homers and 18 RBI. The Orioles were 16-10 in games he started and they're 17-23 without him.
With Wieters out, the Orioles figure to use Caleb Joseph and Nick Hundley behind the plate, with Steve Clevinger being a possibility (he's currently in Triple-A), too.