I first met JJ in the fall of 2019. I was a graduate transfer at Florida Southern and did not know a single person on the team, let alone campus. We just finished up our second team lift and were headed to the cafeteria to eat. Our lifting groups were split into 8 am and 12 pm groups so this was the first time I was meeting a handful of my teammates. I met JJ in our 12 pm lifting group and began talking for a while at the cafeteria. He was telling me about his partially torn UCL and how he’s been shut down for almost 4 months. I nearly spit the food out of my mouth when I heard that. At the time, I was working at the Florida Baseball Ranch and I knew he needed help if he ever wanted to have a healthy return for the season. We sat at the cafeteria and talked for nearly 2 hours about an abundance of things. He seemed to have a strong head on his shoulders and asked me if I would go with him to the Florida Baseball Ranch to get checked out. JJ never experienced any type of training before and he trusted me to lead him down the right path. We spent months throughout that year training together, trying out new ideas, and learning from each other. JJ was able to make it through half of the season with a PRP injection, but I knew he wasn’t satisfied with the results.
The following year JJ began to double down ever more on his efforts. As a senior heading into the 2020 spring season, the time to get drafted was dwindling down. At 88-92 mph, JJ was electric throughout the entire season and had a legitimate shot to make some noise. He battled through a line drive off the phase, elbow fatigue, and much more. The kid was unbreakable it seemed. Until Friday night against Barry University JJ, being the ultimate competitor, he was, pushed through too much pain and tore his UCL. As he collapsed to the ground it felt like the air was sucked out of the dugout. Not only did we lose our best pitcher, but we lost our leader, as well. I remember putting my arm around JJ as he teared up in the dugout. Not only enduring the pain of a torn UCL, he was realizing his dreams of playing professional baseball may have just ended.
A few weeks later COVID-19 ended our season and JJ underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after the abrupt ending. “I’m going to come back from this and play professional baseball,” was the statement JJ told me in some manner just about every day. He was committed to not only coming back better than before but faster than everyone else. We talked almost every day during quarantine on how we can expedite the recovery process from the second he went in for surgery to the time of his first appearance. Throughout this time, arguments were par for the course as we discussed the best way to get him back. JJ was ready to handle anything that came his way and it showed.
From the time he had surgery every move was calculated. From when it was time to take his sling off so his posture would not hunch forward, to his first throw back. JJ would outline every day in his journal, what felt good, what wasn’t working, what we could improve upon. It was his database of objective information that would lead him down the most efficient path. We used constraints to begin his return to throwing program so he could not form bad movement patterns at a low intent to ensure nothing would creep back in later.
For throwing, instead of following the interval throwing, we took a hybrid approach. JJ moved out to about 120 feet following the interval throwing program, however, once we reached that point, we stopped. We then shifted into a Durathro sock progression completing 2 days on and 1 day off for a total of 21 sessions. This allowed us to do a few things: 1. Groove proper movement patterns in a constraint-led approach, 2. Add volume and intensity quicker with less stress in the sock, and 3. Reform any scar tissue. From there, we moved into an overload plyo phase. Finally, we started a cycle of max long toss, recovery, and moderate plyo work throughout the week. This was our “Tim Grover Test.” Tim Grover would make every athlete returning from ACL surgery jump off of a 48-inch box jump immediately onto another. It was not so much a physical test as the ACL was structurally sound and prepared for this stress, but more so a mental one. I used this with JJ to see if he was finally ready to begin to ramp back up and train velocity. He had little to no issues in this phase and felt comfortable to start moving to the mound.
The results? 8 months post-operation JJ hit 92 mph in a bullpen. Historically, JJ was 89-92 in games. This was a huge milestone for us as we knew that JJ historically threw 3-4 mph harder in the game. This was a crazy benchmark; however, we knew we had to tread lightly and not rush back too fast. JJ continued to pen and slowly progress back into bullpens and intersquads. He set a personal goal to be available on opening day for Florida Southern, less than 12 months out of surgery. Again, JJ crushed that goal. Not only was he available, but he sat 92-94 mph in his first outing. Again, another PR for him. Months later JJ stepped back onto the same exact mound at Barry. In a 3 run ball game, JJ came in for the save. What did he do? In typical fashion, JJ closed out the game while topping 96 mph just one year post-op.
JJ has shown us if you really want something, you take it. The Florida Southern righty re-invented himself to add 4-6 mph on his fastball and earn a contract with the Atlanta Braves. No one knows what the future holds for JJ, however, no matter what he does no one will ever be able to take away the mountains that he climbed to earn an opportunity in professional baseball. I am honored to have shared this journey with JJ as I have a feeling this is only the beginning. The late-night brainstorming sessions, training, and mechanical breakdowns have never felt more rewarding than they do now.
If you have a relentless work ethic and need guidance in the right direction, email training@connected-performance.com today.