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Mike O'Connor was a surprise bright spot for the Nats last year.
Through June last year, Mike O'Connor was the Nationals' |
Mike O'Connor hasn't picked up a baseball all winter, and thanks to elbow surgery in November, he won't be able to compete for a spot in the Washington Nationals' rotation this spring, but the left-hander can't complain too much.
This time last year, the native of Ellicott City, Md., hadn't pitched above Single-A, was delivering packages for D.C.-area fundraising companies, and wondering about his future in baseball.
"It's a lot different from last year," said O'Connor, who despite his injury has emerged as one of the faces of the Nationals during a week-long caravan tour of the area. "I just think back to what I was doing last year. I was working all offseason trying to make money, doing baseball camps and working during the day."
Working--and wondering--he said.
O'Connor, 26, was a seventh-round draft pick of the Montreal Expos out of George Washington in 2002 and had pitched in Single-A Potomac in 2005. He was slated to pitch in Double-A in 2006 until a late-spring promotion to Triple-A.
The majors were only a short hop away, and he made his debut April 29 against the St. Louis Cardinals and didn't allow an earned run in five innings.
Through June, he was the Nationals' most reliable starter, sporting a deceiving 3-5 record and a solid 3.77 ERA.
That's when his elbow started to hurt. It was an intermittent pain, and being a rookie eager to hold onto a spot in the starting rotation, O'Connor didn't tell anyone about the pain.
But it affected his control more than anything, he said. His biting curveball didn't bite as much, and he couldn't locate his fastball as he'd been able to early in the season.
"I kind of felt like there was something that wasn't right," O'Connor said. "It wasn't normal to have that pain. Sometimes it'd be OK but start after start it's a thing that builds up, and I wasn't comfortable like I should have been. By the middle of the season in July, I had nothing."
His numbers bear that out.
After June, he didn't win another game, was briefly demoted to Triple-A in July, and spent August on the disabled list. He returned in September, but never felt right. His ERA ballooned to 4.80, and after the season, he met with orthopedist James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.
"I don't want to blame it on the injury," O'Connor said. "I went out there and pitched and felt like I could pitch, but looking back it wasn't the best thing I could do and I probably should've said something earlier. The last thing I wanted to do was be hurt."
On Nov. 7, Andrews removed a cartilage defect from O'Connor's right elbow. He couldn't throw until February.
So as the Nationals bring in close to a dozen rookies, reclamation projects and castaways to fight it out for four spots in the team's rotation alongside right-hander John Patterson, O'Connor won't be part of the mix.
New Nationals manager Manny Acta said earlier this week that the team will be cautious with the left-hander, and won't push him.
"We're going to take our time with him. He pitched well enough for this ballclub last year that he doesn't need to come out there and rush and try to impress me," Acta said.
That means O'Connor is likely to start the season in the minors--at Triple-A Columbus or in extended spring--and won't get a chance to crack the rotation until mid-May.
Still, he won't complain. He hasn't delivered a package all winter, and is confident when he's healthy, he'll be able to contribute.
"I feel like the opportunity is going to be there," O'Connor said. "That's all I can ask for. I definitely feel like I can pitch how I did at the beginning. I feel like everything will be on track."
Todd Jacobson: 540/735-
| Here's the season George Washington graduate Mike O'Connor had for the Nationals in 2006:
Wins and losses: 3-8 ERA: 4.80 Strikeouts: 59 Walks: 45 Home runs allowed: 15 |
