PHOENIX — Final 12 months was purported to go otherwise for Dodgers pitcher Dustin Could.
After being out for the reason that center of 2023 following a flexor tendon and Tommy John revision surgical procedure, the hard-throwing right-hander was on observe final summer time to return to motion earlier than the tip of the season.
By early July, he was only a week out from a minor-league rehab stint, and a mere month or so away from doubtlessly rejoining the Dodgers’ major-league roster.
Much more encouraging was that, close to the tip of the second main surgical restoration of his profession (Could underwent an preliminary Tommy John operation in 2021), he was lastly feeling like his outdated self, hopeful of returning to the Dodgers’ short-handed beginning rotation and enjoying a key late-season position of their push for a World Sequence title.
“I was pretty close,” Could stated.
Then, over the course of 1 horrifying night, the whole lot modified.
On the night time of July 10, whereas he was nonetheless rehabbing on the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility in Arizona, Could went to dinner and ordered a salad. After one chunk, he felt some lettuce get caught in his throat. Attempting to clean it down, he took a fast swig of water.
Moments later, he might inform one thing was improper.
In what Could described as a “complete freak accident,” he unknowingly suffered a severe tear in his esophagus — one which required emergency surgical procedure later that night time, dashed any hopes of him returning to play earlier than the tip of the season, and left him with a brand new perspective on not solely baseball, however the fragility of life, coming into spring coaching this 12 months.
A lot so, he added of the surgical procedure, “I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night if I didn’t have it.”
Dodgers pitcher Dustin Could is trying to make an impression on the mound this season.
(Chris Coduto / Getty Photographs)
Fortunately, on the behest of his spouse, Millie, Could didn’t delay in search of medical consideration.
For quarter-hour, Could stated he felt a “mega-painful” sensation in his throat and abdomen; later studying that the lettuce lodged in his throat led to a extremely unusual meals impaction that perforated his esophagus tube.
When the ache wore off shortly after, nonetheless, Could returned residence from dinner considering he could be OK.
“I’m not a big panicker,” he stated. “It kind of chilled out. So I was like, ‘I’m fine. I don’t need to do anything.’”
Millie wasn’t so positive.
“No,” Could recalled her saying. “We’re going to the ER to get it checked out.”
When Could arrived on the hospital, medical doctors carried out a CT scan utilizing distinction fluid that exposed the severity of his tear. Instantly, they ushered him into surgical procedure. In a matter of hours, he went from being on the verge of a long-awaited comeback to dealing with essentially the most sudden of setbacks.
“It was extremely frustrating,” Could stated. “You can’t plan for it. You can’t try to prevent it. It just happened.”
With a shake of his head, he continued: “It wasn’t on my bingo card for 2024.”
To restore the rupture, Could required what he described as “basically a full abdominal surgery” — lifting his shirt in entrance of his locker Friday to disclose an extended vertical scar from his decrease chest to his abdomen.
As a substitute of finishing the ultimate phases of his elbow rehab, Could launched into a brand new six-month restoration during which he was barred from lifting any weights heavier than 10 kilos. Although he started mild throwing actions in November, it wasn’t till round New Yr’s that he was again to full power.
“It just kind of gives me a different viewpoint on a lot of things in life,” Could stated Friday, nonetheless hanging a tone of disbelief about all that occurred eight months earlier. “Just seeing how something so non-baseball-related can just be like — it can be gone in a second. And the stuff it put my wife through, it definitely gave me [a feeling] of, ‘Wow, stuff can change like that.’ It was definitely very scary.”
However now, it’s additionally a reminiscence of the previous. This spring, Could has shifted his focus towards making the Dodgers’ opening-day roster and resuming his once-burgeoning profession.
When wholesome, the previous third-round draft decide has been very good for the Dodgers, amassing a 3.10 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 46 profession outings (34 of them begins) since making his debut in 2019. He’s hopeful of getting again to that stage once more, too, inspired by his early bullpen periods as far as he competes for the Dodgers’ fifth and last rotation spot alongside Tony Gonsolin, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and others in camp.
“If I’m healthy, I feel like I have a spot on this rotation,” stated Could, whom supervisor Dave Roberts famous is also an possibility for the bullpen if he fails to earn a rotation spot to start the 12 months. “I just have to go out and prove that.”
If Could can, it can function a full-circle second for the 27-year-old expertise — providing a doubtlessly rewarding finish to the medical saga that prevented his return final 12 months.
“It’s been a minute,” Could stated of lastly being wholesome once more. “But I’m definitely excited, and definitely have a deeper appreciation for the game.”
