Alabama loses star pitcher Riley Quick to Tommy John surgery

Just four games into the 2024 season, Alabama has been dealt a tough hand. Star pitcher Riley Quick will miss the entire year and will require Tommy John surgery. He made one start over the weekend against Manhattan but will now have to watch from afar.

Quick is in his sophomore season and likely to return to Tuscaloosa in 2025. Head coach Rob Vaughn reacted to the injury news, saying losing the right-hander is disappointing. However, getting back on the mound will eventually come after going through the rehab process.

“From what I hear, everything went great, but we’ll be obviously without him the rest of the year, which stinks for him,” Vaughn said following Tuesday’s win vs. Middle Tennessee State. “That kids works really, really hard. But the good news is he’ll get on the road to recovery and we’ll be getting him back before we know it.”

In what will go down as his lone appearance of the season, Quick threw just three innings on Saturday. He allowed just two bases runners (one walk, another hit by pitch) and struck out five.

During the 2023 season, Quick made 16 appearances, all of which were out of the bullpen. In 22 IP, he had nine ER with 26 strikeouts and 21 walks. One positive, though, was giving up just two extra-base hits all season. Quick’s ERA finished at 3.86.

Alabama was going to rely on Quick to be a staple in the weekend rotation. Those expectations will be pushed back at least a season while Quick recovers from surgery. Vaughn will have to change his rotation up, with the next weekend series beginning on Friday against Valparaiso.

Alabama enjoying a 4-0 start to 2024 season

Looking at some positive news for Alabama, Vaughn is off to a great start to his inaugural season. Through four games, all have resulted in wins. A sweep against Manhattan over the weekend at the Joe was followed up by a midweek victory against Middle Tennessee State.

Alabama has outscored opponents 36-9 in those four games.

As usual, even good teams in the SEC will struggle to put together wins. Highly regarded as the best conference in the sport, somebody like Alabama could be an NCAA Tournament team but still find itself in the bottom half of the standings.

Stacking up the nonconference wins will be crucial, especially when the competition goes up another level.