I hope this is a message of encouragement for those dealing with injury. My 2019 son who was a catcher/ pitcher/outfielder was primarily used as a catcher through his 9th grade year.
Beginning fall of his 9th grade year he began complaining of “tightness” in his knee and difficulty running, particularly after catching. But he could play with it. By the middle of his 10th grade basketball season, it was so bad that we stopped him and got an MRI that showed a 2.5 cm OCD lesion in his right (push off) lateral femoral condyle.
It required 2 surgeries. The first was a micro fracture performed in January of his sophomore year. It wiped out his entire sophomore season. And, he was put on a registry for a matching donor knee for a graft procedure with no way to predict when that graft would be available. He would never catch again and if he had any baseball future, it lied in pitching.
He pushed himself trying get back in about 5 months and salvage his rising junior summer - typically the most important for elite pitchers (typically a 9-12 month recovery). But he could only manage 8 innings in his rising junior summer before having to shut it down from pain and stiffness in his knee. He received no interest despite being contacted by several P5 schools the summer before.
He continued his rehab and we made arrangements for him to do several camps in the fall and posted several 30-40s videos of him doing bullpens throughout his fall rehab, all the time we new a second surgery could happen anytime on few days notice.
Despite what some may claim, the short videos do work. We posted them to YouTube and sent them to schools he was interested in from the Ivy League to the SEC. Every school we sent a video watched them (YouTube and google can track this for you and tell you where and when the video was watched). Many watched them multiple times, and he got phone calls from schools in all P5 conferences, no offers, just intent to follow through the summer. He also got calls from schools we didn’t contacr that told him they had seen them and were very interested.
With no surgery happening, he attended 5 fall camps. His knee feeling some better, he stood out at some, not so much at others. Got invited to an in-state mid major 3 hours away for an unofficial visit (after they saw a bullpen video). There was no offer.
In January he went to a camp at an in-state school, with a very successful D1 baseball program and one of his favorites. He did very well, and was asked to stay after camp to meet with the coaches. No offer, but again expressed interest and intent to follow.
After being at camps and talking with various HCs, PCs, and RCs at SEC, ACC, B10, PAC, Ivy schools, etc. he said, “This is where I want to be. This is where I want to play and go to school.”
We made arrangements for our whole family to go back for their opening series and he let the coaching staff know we were coming. They asked us to come a couple hours early so we could talk and they could give our son a tour of all the facilities. By this time, his junior season of HS had started. In his first outing he went five full innings gave up 0hits, 1walk and 12Ks. PC said he was coming to his next outing and he went 4 1/3 with 1hit, 2 walks, and 8Ks. The next day, the HC called and made an offer.
We went back the the following day and accepted. Told the HC and PC about his knee. Response was very positive.
He went on to have a very strong HS and Summer Season. He touched 96 a couple of times, sat 90-93 in a of his outings and managed to gain attention from pro scouts.
A donor match was just found, and he had his second surgery this past Tuesday. As a 6’4” 195lb RHP, he has been told that he is likely a top 10 round pick if he is healthy and makes himself known to be interested in signing.
College has always been his top priority, and I have always preached that he is one injury away from baseball being over. Retrospectively, he says that the injury was very helpful. He thinks he is truly going to the best situation academically and baseball wise.
He thinks that he would have likely gone to a P5 school if he didn’t have time to vet several of the schools. Instead he had time to grow and mature before making that decision.
My first advice for those of you dealing with injury is no different than others. Your sons need to heal first. But then, I would say think about recruitment differently.
While I focused on getting him healthy, it was really my wife that encouraged my son the best. She told him that where he attended school would be his decision, not a coach’s decision. He could hardly play, was depressed, his future seemed uncertain and he was ready to accept anything if it meant an opportunity to play in college, My wife stepped in and reminded him that he was worth much more than what he does on a baseball field, so she expected him to make decisions about his future accordingly.
He came out of surgery Tuesday and while still a little loopy said, “Dad we made it, I’ll get a chance to play my last HS season without pain, and I’m going to a great college with a great baseball program.”
There is always hope, but it doesn’t hurt to make your own luck.