FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Two days shy of the six-month anniversary of undergoing Tommy John surgery, Tanner Houck experienced joy from the act of picking up a baseball and throwing it 45 feet to a catcher.
While teammates Garrett Crochet and Payton Tolle threw live batting practice on the main diamond of JetBlue Park in preparation for the start of Grapefruit League action, Houck played the long game with short throws -- 25 of them -- just outside the clubhouse.
For the righty who was an All-Star two seasons ago, it was the first measurable step in his quest to get back on the mound for the Red Sox by September.
“Yeah, today was Day 1 of throwing with a real ball and a real guy getting to catch it,” said Houck. “No more plyos only. The throwing starts now. The long journey of building back up a throwing program. It’s gonna be a long road, but I'm in for it. I'm ready for it. I trust the training staff here to guide me through this process.”
Houck’s natural personality to see things in a positive light will serve him well over these next six months.
“So we're six months out now, halfway done to a year-long process,” Houck said. “But I'm in a good headspace with it, and I know that it's still only halfway done, but I'm ready. I'm just excited to be around the guys again and get ready to watch some baseball here soon. My whole goal is to be back in September. I set that goal basically the day after the surgery. I want to do it smart and in the right way. I can have my goal.”
Goals are essential for someone who faces a long recovery. But recovery from Tommy John is different for all pitchers. Worrying about the setbacks that could happen along the way don’t serve any purpose for Houck.
“If God has a different plan, then we might have to readjust as things kind of ramp up with throwing, and see how the body is recovering,” Houck said. “But that goes back to building a solid routine, a pre-throw, post-throw, and nightly routines, just eating right, getting good sleep, just doing all the stuff to maximize recovery. And my job now, I think, is to push the envelope as much as possible and have the trainers tell me to slow down throughout this entire process.”
They nearly had to do that on Monday as Houck came out for his light throwing exercise a little, shall we say, excited.
“Our trainer was out there with the radar gun, with a little pocket radar, and the first ones were a little hot,” said Houck. “But I like to push that envelope. It was the first day and it was exciting emotionally, and I was super pumped for it. I’ve been looking forward to this day. I've already been chomping at the bit the last couple weeks.”
Each week will bring new milestones, albeit subtle ones, until he is able to climb back on the slope and throw.
“Each week will kind of have its own little reward system of getting to throw more, getting to move back a distance,” said Houck. “But the next big thing is to get back on a mound and start inching closer to facing hitters.”
For Houck, the last six months of not being able to throw was a feeling he never wants to experience in his career.
“Me and my wife were talking about that,” Houck said. “She was like, ‘When's the last time you took this amount of time off from baseball.’ I was like, ‘I never have.’ It's a good time for me to reset with the entire routine, the entire pre-throw and post-throw routines, and just really get the body in check and in line to make a great comeback. This was a great step in the right direction.”
And for now, at what he hopes is the midpoint in his recovery, Houck really couldn’t have asked for anything more.