For Thomas, arduous journey back a 'blessing in disguise'

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Alek Thomas was in a good place when the 2024 season opened. The outfielder was coming off an excellent postseason run in which he helped the Diamondbacks reach the World Series with a clutch home run in the NL Championship Series.

The blast helped him build confidence, and he spent the offseason building on that while working hard to get himself ready for another 162-game grind.

When Spring Training started, Thomas picked up right where he left off, and when Arizona opened its 2024 season, he felt primed for a big year.

Four days later, Thomas’ life turned upside down when he strained his left hamstring.

There was physical discomfort, but there was also mental pain.

“I hurt a lot,” Thomas said of the mental aspect of dealing with the injury. “I think, all the hard work that I put in an offseason, and to have a good Spring Training, and to have a pretty solid first couple games, and then to get injured definitely hurt me a lot. Mentally, I didn't really know how to react to it, because that had never happened to me.”

When players get injured, there is a lot of talk about their physical recovery, and the challenges they go through during rehab are well chronicled. Less discussed, and sometimes even more important, are the mental challenges they face.

Being away from their teammates while they rehab is difficult, and no matter how much teammates try to make an injured player feel like they’re part of the team, it’s hard for someone on the IL to buy into that, since they aren’t contributing to the day-to-day battles that a team goes through.

Not having been injured to that extent before, Thomas didn’t know what to expect or how to process it all.

“I wanted so badly to come back,” he said. “I didn't know that it takes time, and you shouldn’t rush things.”

But Thomas was in a hurry to get back and contribute. Whether that led to his setback in early May is not known, but whatever the cause was, Thomas -- who was playing in his final rehab game when he suffered the setback -- did not rejoin the roster until July 2.

The hamstring never did feel right the rest of the year, which was another learning experience for Thomas.

“I didn't know that it was going to be not normal after that,” Thomas said. “It didn't feel normal, and it sucked. So, I think every day was like, ‘All right, well, I don't know how it's gonna feel today. I don't know if I'm able to play, I don't know if I'm able to run.’ So that really hurt, too.”

Thomas hired a mental performance coach to help him deal with the situation, and he also found Arizona’s mental skills coaches helpful.

There are still times he shows up to the ballpark not exactly sure how his legs are going to feel, but once he gets involved in the game and stays in the present moment, he no longer focuses on how he feels physically.

Thomas also credits his fiancée for helping him deal with the ups and downs of the season. He knows that when he comes home from a game, regardless of how he did, she is going to be there for him. They’ll watch a movie or talk about something other than baseball.

“I think everything happens for a reason, and just being able to have what happened to me could be a blessing in disguise,” Thomas said. “I think I learned a lot about myself, and just being able to overcome that and come out of it and not dig myself deeper into a hole mentally is a win. So, it sucked during times last year, but I'm proud of myself that I was able to come out of it and be able to get to where I am now.”