A pitcher's long road to recovery

For baseball pitchers, Tommy John surgery can be the kiss of death. For former Libby three-star athlete, Jared Winslow, it was something that tested him mentally and made him realize just how much he loved baseball.

“It’s one of those things that you wouldn’t wish upon your worst enemy,” Winslow said. “It makes you savor every moment. Sitting out last year ate me up. When you are sitting on the bench you’d give anything to be out there. Now that I’m back out there pitching I realized how much I missed it.”

Winslow tore his ulnar collateral ligament (U.C.L.) at the end of his junior season while pitching in a game for the Libby Loggers in Miles City, a game in which he recorded 14 strikeouts. One week later he pitched a complete game against the Glacier Twins.

“I tore it in Miles City and I threw again a week later,” Winslow said. “My velocity and location were off and it hurt, but I didn’t think anything of it until after the game. I pitched the first game of a double-header and the second game I went out to play shortstop and my arm just stuck.”

The injury occurred at the end of Winslow’s junior season and he thought for sure he wouldn’t be able to play football and basketball his senior season.

“When I tore it I didn’t know how it would affect throwing a football,” he said. “I thought I was done with my whole senior season. We tried throwing a football left-handed a couple of days. It didn’t work out very well, but we tried.”

As soon as Winslow found out his U.C.L. was torn, his family quickly gathered information on what the next step would be.

“Once we knew the U.C.L. was torn, then it was about gathering as much information as we could,” Wally Winslow, Winslow’s father said. “What you can do, what you can’t do. It was a big sigh of relief when we found out he could play football and basketball.”

For Jared’s father it was difficult to watch his son go through a painful experience.

“After the injury occurred it was pretty gut-wrenching,” the elder Winslow said. “He had aspirations of playing at the collegiate level. After an injury like that you never know, it can turn a lot of coaches away. It was a big sigh of relief when we found out Rob Bishop, the coach for Montana State Billings was still committed to Jared.”

Winslow was able to enjoy his senior season before having the surgery on May 9, 2014. Russell VanderWilde, of Orthopedic Specialists in Spokane, Wash., performed the surgery.

“He’s the team doctor for Washington State University and Gonzaga University,” He said. “He’s a great guy and came highly recommended by coach Bishop.”

After surgery the long road back began.

“The first two months of rehab was all range of motion stuff,” Winslow said. “After that it was all shoulder rehab. The first four months was twice a day. When I went down to school at Montana State Billings it went down to once a day. The rehab turned into throwing around six months, but we still had to do all the rehab stuff and it turned back into twice a day.”

For the father, it was hard not being there for his son when he went to school.

“The hardest part was when he went to school,” he said. “He had surgery in May and the first couple of months of rehab he was home. Then we went to school and he was on his own. For us as parents it was rough. The rehab was up and down. It was tough not being there for him.”

Winslow redshirted his first season at Montana State Billings. It was a blessing and a curse for him.

“The redshirt year was nice,” he said. “It opened my eyes and allowed me to see what the college game was like. But, it was hard because all of the lifting and conditioning I couldn’t do a lot of it because I wasn’t 100 percent. I couldn’t fully participate until April and by that point there are just a couple weeks left. I was on the team, but I felt isolated. I was able to throw bullpen sessions in April, but had to take two weeks off because it got sore. The other two Tommy John guys were throwing and I felt like a ghost just sitting there.”

It’s been just over 12 months since Winslow had his surgery and he’s back on the mound pitching again.

“It was a long and tedious road back,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work. It was weird being on the mound again. I was in the field playing shortstop. I would throw bullpen sessions and it felt fine. Then I got on the mound and it hit me that I was back. The first game pitching at home it felt like it finally came full circle.”

Winslow knows that he’s not out of the woods yet.

“The ligament is healthy after a year,” he said. “My velocity is back better than ever. The location and off-speed pitches take a little longer. I’ve thrown games where I feel like I’m throwing as hard as I can and it’s slower velocity. Other days I pick it up and it’s back to normal. After 18 months is when things get back to normal. It’s amazing how one little piece of the puzzle goes wrong and everything falls apart.”

Libby Loggers manager, Kelly Morford is proud of how hard Winslow worked in his recovery.

“It has been a long road back for Jared,” he said. “He worked his tail off to get back to where he is. It takes a lot of determination and focus to rehab for that long.”

Morford believes Winslow is a great player and an even better man.

“Jared is truly a special talent and an even better young man,” Morford said. “It has been an honor to coach him and witness all that he has accomplished as a Logger. As a program, we have been very fortunate to have a guy like him and we are all excited to see him excel at the next level.”

Winslow is hoping to become a starter for Montana State Billings.

“I hope to be a starter,” he said. “The next best thing would be a long reliever. The great thing about college is you get a week off. You pitch on Friday and you won’t have to pitch again until the next Friday. You have four starters and seven or eight relief pitchers.”

The injury opened Winslow’s eyes to the importance of arm care and how much he loves the game of baseball.

“It definitely makes you realize the importance of arm care,” he said. “It’s 12 month deal and part of that arm care is not throwing. After Legion ball is over I won’t throw all of August. The rehab made me stronger and made me realize how much I love baseball.”