The Philadelphia Phillies will be without one of their top pitching prospects for the foreseeable future, despite reportedly believing he wasn’t hurt when his velocity was declining. Manager Rob Thomson told reporters, including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, that Moises Chace will be undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Rob Thomson also said that Phillies pitching prospect Moises Chace will have Tommy John surgery. His velocity was down this season with Double-A Reading. @MLBPipeline

https://twitter.com/ToddZolecki/status/1923477494767771888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1923477494767771888%7Ctwgr%5Eb9e45aba51a38471e66a44e6afc71155ff4fc2b9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsnaut.com%2Fmlb%2Fphiladelphia-phillies-news-pitching-prospect-moises-chace-tommy-john-surgery%2F

Chace, ranked as the organization’s fifth-best prospect by MLB.com, saw his velocity drastically drop this season. According to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, Chace’s fastball fell from 94.4 mph last year to 90.8 this season.

The Phillies initially told Gelb last week they didn’t attribute the drop in velocity to injury. Chace reportedly arrived at camp not in pitching shape.

“The Phillies were concerned when Chace reported to his first big-league spring training not in the best pitching shape,” Gelb reported on May 10. “It’s unclear how much he threw in the offseason, or if he threw at all from a mound while at home in Venezuela. The organization does not believe he is hurt, so it has continued to pitch him.”

However, things changed dramatically during a Double-A game for the Reading Phillies on May 14 when Chace motioned to the trainer after throwing a pitch in the second inning, immediately recognizing something was wrong.

Moisés Chace left today’s start for Reading in the second inning after calling for a trainer … Chace knew something was wrong immediately after losing a pitch up and away pic.twitter.com/yO0vw8PSEP

https://twitter.com/Mitch_Rupert/status/1922702441117532171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922702441117532171%7Ctwgr%5Eb9e45aba51a38471e66a44e6afc71155ff4fc2b9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsnaut.com%2Fmlb%2Fphiladelphia-phillies-news-pitching-prospect-moises-chace-tommy-john-surgery%2F

Chace made six starts before going down. He struck out 19 in 16 2/3 innings, while walking 12, and recording a 3.24 ERA.

Chace was acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles last season, along with pitcher Seth Johnson, for reliever Gregory Soto.