Bassitt 'writing the script' for second-half return after unique back surgery

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- Chris Bassitt was his usual self inside the visiting clubhouse at Great American Ball Park this past weekend. The 37-year-old right-hander hung out with his Orioles teammates on Friday afternoon, bouncing between two TVs -- one showing a baseball game and another displaying a World Cup soccer match.

There are few players who can keep it as loose -- or as loud -- as Bassitt.

“You wouldn’t know that he’s had back surgery and is on the IL. He’s still the same person, which is awesome,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “That’s a credit to him and the person he is. It’s great having him around, just being that sounding board for the rest of the players in there.”

Bassitt didn’t have a traditional back surgery, though. He underwent a procedure to remove a bone spur from the facet joint near his lumbar spine. President of baseball operations Mike Elias called it a “minor” operation -- one that was performed by Dr. Brandon Rebholz in Milwaukee -- and Bassitt reiterated exactly that.

In fact, Bassitt said he was “excited as hell” to get the surgery, because nothing was alleviating his back discomfort, which resulted in him being placed on the 15-day injured list on June 8. He received a facet injection to his lower back in mid-June, but that didn’t go as intended.

“All the medicine and [stuff] wasn’t working. So I was like, ‘Please, let’s do it,’” Bassitt said. “Let’s do it as fast as we can.”

The way Bassitt described it, the bone spur was causing him to almost feel as if he had some sort of lat injury while pitching. If the procedure to fix it doesn’t sound familiar, well, there’s a reason for that.

Bassitt believes he may be the first baseball player to undergo this surgery. There isn’t any public information available on how to rehab from it and when to return to the mound.

“We’re kind of writing the script a little bit,” Bassitt said. “There’s no data on it.”

So far, Bassitt’s first season in Baltimore hasn’t gone as he or the team had hoped after the O’s signed the veteran to a one-year deal worth $18.5 million. Through 12 outings (10 starts), Bassitt had a 5.27 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP over 56 1/3 innings.

But Bassitt remains optimistic that he’ll return before the end of the season and can try to help the Orioles in the second half -- more so than he was doing in the first.

“Obviously, I want to be out there. I want to perform,” Bassitt said. “I feel like I’m pretty realistic and pretty hard on myself, and I was like, ‘I’m not helping the team.’ I’m putting Shane [Baz] in a bad spot. I’m putting [Trevor] Rogers in a bad spot, especially because those two are before and after me [in the rotation]. And then, it was obviously Kyle [Bradish] is in a bad spot, [Brandon Young] is in a bad spot, because everyone’s trying to make up for the lack of my performance.

“So yeah, it was just one of those things where it was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get right so I can help these guys.’ Rather than being a liability, I can be an asset again.”