Aguilar Undergoes Elbow Surgery

Sal Aguilar was in the midst of his finest season yet, leading the B-Mets in wins through the first half of the season. However, the tremendous growth he displayed was cut short when late last month he found out he was to undergo elbow surgery that would end his season.

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Binghamton Mets starting pitcher Salvador Aguilar can at least joke about the situation: "Looks like I'll probably be working [at the tire factory] again," he says.

After going 7-9 with a 5.81 ERA in his first year at Double-A in 2007, the 26-year-old had seemingly found himself with the B-Mets this season, going 10-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 24 outings, 14 of them starts.

Aguilar's last outing, however, and subsequently his season, ended in terribly disappointing fashion. Aguilar felt discomfort in his arm with two outs in the sixth inning of a start against the visiting Connecticut Defenders at NYSEG Stadium on July 20, surrendering a single to Olmo Rosario before being removed for Eric Brown.

"I just kind of felt tight in there, something was abnormal," Aguilar says. "Once they pulled me out, I immediately told [B-Mets trainer] Joe Golia about it. He said we'll take a look at it."

The next day it was swollen, and after an MRI in New York City, it was determined Aguilar needed Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Rehab from the surgery for pitchers usually takes approximately a year.

"I'm real worried about it," Aguilar says. "I worked so hard to try to stay healthy to have a good year this year to prove to a lot of people that I'm capable of pitching at Double-A or even a higher level, and then something like this to happen—it brings me down a lot."

B-Mets pitching Ricky Bones has worked with Aguilar for two consecutive seasons now, and says that while Aguilar may feel down, the improvements he made this season did not go unnoticed.

"Regardless if he's hurt or not, he's having a great season," says Bones. "Unfortunately he's down a little bit now, but that doesn't take anything away from the season that he's having. I think that he learned a lot last year and he's been able to put it all together this year."

A smaller pitcher at 6-feet tall Aguilar throws a sinking fastball, a slider, curve and changeup. Physically, there wasn't any major change that led to Aguilar's success: the slider is the most recent addition to his repertoire, but Bones says that Aguilar was simply sticking to the basics: pitching ahead, pitching to contact and pitching to both sides of the plate. As an older pitcher, and, as Bones speaks to, a pitcher who's repeating the league, the timing of Aguilar's self-discovery couldn't have been better, despite the injury.

"Once you repeat the league, you got to do what you got to do," Bones says. "Once you get to a place for a second year to work on something, you got to be able to create an impact in a positive way, and I think he's doing that."

Aguilar earned his first All-Star nomination as a pro this season, and also earned double-digit win totals for the first time. He had been convinced that he had peaked statistically as a Brooklyn Cyclone in his pro debut in 2005, when he went 5-0 with a 2.24 ERA in 52 1/3 innings.

"I surprised myself a lot this year," Aguilar says. "I didn't think I was ever capable of winning 10 games in a minor league season ... it was the first All-Star game I've ever played in, besides Little League."

Aguilar—who was drafted in the 29th round of the 2005 draft out of Lewis-Clark State College—has been moved around between the B-Mets' rotation and bullpen over the last two seasons. Eight of his 28 appearances last season were in relief, but this year, after starting in the pen, he moved back to the rotation when Jake Ruckle suffered a season-ending injury.

"I think his turning point was realizing and recognizing himself, even if it was out of the rotation or in the bullpen, he never took anything for granted," Bones says. "He never was disappointed about anything, he just wanted to continue working and get better, and he was able to spend the time repeating his delivery, his mechanics, repeating what he needed to do to get better."

Aguilar's goal is simply to get to the big leagues—regardless of it's in the rotation or not—to put him in a position to better take care of his brother and the rest of his family. He talks to his brother about every other day.

"Usually I get a text message saying why don't you go pinch hit, or get a real job," Aguilar jokes.

Because Aguilar entered the rotation by virtue of another player's injury and not necessarily his own merit, he wasn't sure he deserved the ball every five days.

"I was comfortable being a reliever, but once I became a starter I was excited about it," he says. "But it wasn't the way that I really wanted to get in there, it just kind of happened. I don't really know if I earned the spot."

Either way, the B-Mets' coaching staff feels Aguilar made good on the opportunity he was given, and that he will be missed as a team that had already been depleted by several promotions attempts to make a postseason appearance.

"It's a big blow," B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras says. "The kid was doing a great job, one of our top starters. He's not just a great player, he's a great person, and everyone really likes him in the clubhouse. Somebody's got to step up."

As Aguilar works his way back, his wish is for the work he put in this season to be recognized in the future.

"I just hope that it opened up a lot of eyes in the organization and I just hope somebody gives me a chance," he says.