Dodgers’ Brock Stewart details ‘mental warfare’ of latest shoulder surgery

PHOENIX –– Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart described the shoulder surgery that ended his 2025 season last September as a “pretty straightforward procedure.”

But then, while speaking to The California Post on Friday at Camelback Ranch, the right-hander actually explained all that team surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache did to try to remedy his chronic shoulder problems.

“Shaved up a bone spur, kind of took out part of my clavicle, took out the bursa,” Stewart said nonchalantly, hopeful that the rather gory specifics of the operation will finally lead to better health moving forward.

“It just essentially gave me way more room for the head of my humerus to rotate,” Stewart added. “Feels much better. I can tell inherently it’s very much cleaned up. The throw feels good.”

Stewart doesn’t relish the fact he can rattle off such intricate medical details so fluently. He’d rather not be missing his bursa (a fluid sac that is supposed to protect shoulder tendons) and part of his clavicle (aka, his collarbone).

But over a roller-coaster professional career –– which originally began a decade ago as a depth starter with the Dodgers, plummeted to the nadir of independent league ball in 2020 and has since seen him reinvent himself as a high-leverage reliever whom the Dodgers reacquired at last year’s trade deadline –– recurring shoulder problems have left him little other choice.

If it helps pitch pain-free now, so be it.

“I’ve pitched in 13 professional seasons, and it seems like half of those seasons I’ve dealt with something in my shoulder,” he said. “So, it is what it is. Hopefully, this took care of those chronic issues.”

Indeed, Stewart is seeking a new beginning this year.

When the Dodgers traded for him last July, the hope was that he would be able to stabilize the club’s struggling bullpen. Despite having a shoulder scope procedure in 2024, he had returned as one of the better right-on-right relievers in the majors over the first half of 2025, posting a 2.38 ERA in 39 outings with the Twins.

But after just four outings with the Dodgers, Stewart’s shoulder flared up on him again, making every throw feel “like a knife was stabbing me.”

He missed the rest of the year, watching from afar as the Dodgers went on to win the World Series without him.

“Last year sucked, you know, mental warfare,” he said. “The team traded for me, and then I get over here, and I didn’t really help out, especially in the postseason.”

This time, Stewart is hoping to be a key part of the team’s three-peat pursuit.

Though he likely won’t be ready for Opening Day, beginning the spring behind most other Dodgers pitchers as he slowly ramps up and completes his recovery process, he is confident that “I’ll be able to pitch for the majority of the season.”

He said he began a throwing progression at the start of December. He has knocked off many of the “cobwebs” that came with his latest surgical rehab (he also had Tommy John in 2021). And already, he is touching 90 mph in long toss, putting him on track to throw off a mound again within the next two weeks.

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“I think I’m on a good schedule. ElAttrache, talked to him yesterday and he was happy with where I’m at,” he said. “I feel like I can be loose, whippy (with my throws). It just feels clean working through all those ranges.”

The Dodgers won’t count on Stewart the same way they planned to last year. This winter, they signed new closer Edwin Díaz to anchor the back end of their relief corps. They are also banking on fellow right-hander Blake Treinen to have a bounce-back campaign and Brusdar Graterol to make a strong return from his own shoulder surgery (one that sidelined Graterol for all of last season).

Still, Stewart figures to be important. If he returns quickly enough, he would provide right-handed depth while Evan Phillips works his way back from Tommy John surgery. And if more injuries pop up over the course of the year –– as they likely will for a Dodgers pitching staff coming off two extended postseason runs –– his presence would give the club some veteran stability.

“To be part of a team that’s going for a three-peat and hopefully help them out a lot, couldn’t be more excited,” Stewart said. “Hopefully when I look up at the end of the season, I’ll be able to say that I did help out a lot. Hopefully, I’ll be able to hold up the World Series trophy for a three-peat.”