Drey Jameson understood the timeline when he underwent Tommy John surgery toward the end of the 2023 season. The Diamondbacks right-hander knew that by having the ulnar collateral ligament replaced and a brace put in his elbow that he would not pitch in 2024.
That doesn't mean the ultra-competitive Jameson was happy about it. Nor did it make it any easier to spend the hot summer months of 2024 trekking to Salt River Fields for his daily rehab work while his teammates traveled the country playing actual games.
But what Jameson went through in 2025 was in some ways worse than the year before.
Jameson reported to Spring Training seven months ago excited about what the coming year held for him. After being a starter throughout his pro career, Arizona was going to shift him to the bullpen at least temporarily as he built his innings back up.
And during the spring, Jameson flashed glimpses of his high-velocity self on the mound, and it looked like he could wind up being a key part of the team's bullpen.
But after pitching for Triple-A Reno on May 18, Jameson was shut down due to discomfort in his elbow. Imaging showed the ligament in the elbow was fine, but he had a bone spur in there.
"We tried multiple things," Jameson said of a two-month stretch "Did a cortisone shot. That didn't work. Then we just took some time down to see if that would help. That didn't work. So I was in this limbo stage of, like, why? What is going on in my elbow? So I thought we were just going to go in there and take the bone spur out."
But there was one more thing to try.
"Then they put Botox in my neck, and I haven't felt pain in my elbow since," Jameson said.
Botox is sometimes used to treat "tennis elbow" but in this case it helped Jameson become pain-free and end two-plus months of uncertainty and frustration. He said it was injected into the scalene muscles in his neck and his pec minor muscle.
"I sat down for a week, started playing catch, and then shortly after, I mean, we built up pretty quick, just to see if it's going to work, because I didn't want to sit out anymore," Jameson said. "I'm tired of sitting out. And it worked."
Desperate to get back on the mound in competitive games, Jameson asked about playing winter ball and the Diamondbacks were able to get him a slot in the Arizona Fall League.
In his first five appearances, Jameson has worked 4 1/3 innings and compiled an 8.31 ERA, but the numbers aren't important right now.
Instead, it's about the fact that his elbow feels good and his velocity has touched 99 mph. He is expected to make one more appearance and then shut things down for the offseason.
"The velo is still there," Jameson said. "The shapes of my pitches are coming around. I wouldn't say they're where they need to be, but they're getting there. That's obviously something I have to tinker with. I hadn't really thrown in a game in so long and you get thrown out into the Fall League, and it's a good experience for me to really work on my stuff with live hitters in the box."
Jameson will be ready when it comes time to report to Spring Training, and while he will likely begin as a reliever, he's been using his curveball again to go with a two-seamer, four-seamer, slider and changeup because he would like to be a viable starter option at some point in the future.
That's to be decided at a later date. Jameson has something else on his mind now.
"I don't really care what my role is anymore," Jameson said. "I just want to pitch."