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WEST SACRAMENTO -- To classify what Ken Waldichuk has endured over the past year as a nightmare might be an understatement.
After experiencing discomfort in his left elbow following his final start of the 2023 campaign, Waldichuk flew to Los Angeles to visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Diagnosed with a flexor tendon strain and UCL sprain, the Athletics left-hander was presented with two options: Tommy John surgery, which would likely sideline him for over a year, or seek alternative conservative treatment and hope the injury heals on its own.
Tommy John is the last thing any pitcher wants to go through, and Waldichuk was no exception. Taking a day to mull it over, he decided to go the conservative route, which involved undergoing a less-invasive Tenex procedure in October 2023 and receiving a follow-up PRP injection to the flexor tendon a week later.
For a while, the treatment was doing its job well. Waldichuk started up his offseason workouts later in the winter of 2024, and during the first week of April, he began throwing bullpen sessions and progressed to facing hitters in batting practice sessions.
Waldichuk was nearly set for a Minor League rehab assignment, but throughout those BPs, Waldichuk, whose fastball velocity hovers typically around 93-95 mph, was sitting around 90-91. Both he and the A¡¯s figured the decreased velocity was due to a lack of adrenaline. Then, during BP at the Coliseum on April 29, disaster struck.
¡°Playing in that live, we were thinking [my body] was either protecting [my elbow] or I just needed more adrenaline,¡± Waldichuk said. ¡°It turned out my body was protecting it. ¡ It probably tore during that live.¡±
Two weeks later, Waldichuk was back in Los Angeles with Dr. ElAttrache. He underwent Tommy John surgery, which included a flexor tendon repair, a full reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow and an internal brace procedure.
Instead of returning in the first half of ¡®24 as the A¡¯s expected, Waldichuk, who entered 2023 rated as the A¡¯s top overall pitching prospect and among MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 Prospects list, missed the entire season and began the long, arduous and often lonely Tommy John rehab process.
¡°It¡¯s been a grind having to rehab twice,¡± Waldichuk said. ¡°Looking back on it, you could say [opting against surgery] was the wrong decision at the time. I was told it was 50-50 whether it would work or not. So, I put everything I had into it to make it work. Looking back, is there anything else I could have done? Probably not. If anything, the fact that it lasted all the way until live BPs was kind of a testament to the work I put in that offseason rehabbing it.¡±
Slowly but surely, Waldichuk is climbing out of what felt like anonymity for several months. It began this offseason when he took a 10-day trip to Korea with his girlfriend, Jessica, and her family.
¡°I planned it before I knew I needed Tommy John,¡± Waldichuk said. ¡°I went to Seoul and Busan. I got to see a lot about what their culture was like. I got to try a lot of good food and take a break from rehab, which I think was really big in allowing me to attack the throwing program the way I did.¡±
Starting up a throwing program early in Spring Training, Waldichuk is now throwing bullpens regularly, with the entire rehab process going about as smoothly as he could have hoped for.
¡°I¡¯m just gradually climbing pretty much a mile an hour in the bullpen, which sounds boring,¡± Waldichuk said with a laugh. ¡°It is kind of boring. But if it gets me back to where I need to be, I¡¯ll do it.¡±
The estimated recovery time Waldichuk was given of 13 months puts him in line to return by June. Realistically, his ultimate goal is a return any time before this year¡¯s All-Star break in July. Once he does return, Waldichuk, who finished the ¡®23 season strong with a 3.83 ERA in his final 11 games (nine starts), is excited to utilize the fixes he made to some flaws in his mechanics, identified during all this time spent away from the mound.
Many notable pitchers who have undergone similar surgeries have enjoyed an uptick in velocity, which he also hopes to benefit from.
¡°I feel like I¡¯ve cleaned up a lot of stuff that might have led to this happening,¡± Waldichuk said. ¡°Hopefully, I see improvement in my ability to throw strikes and repeat that. I¡¯m looking forward to looking a little more polished than I did in ¡®23.
¡°I think all of that could help me throw harder when I come back. You see guys all the time throwing like 92 and then they come back throwing upper 90s. I¡¯m hoping I¡¯m one of those guys.¡±