Catchers bond over Tommy John

Wise, Baxendale both coming off injury

Arkansas catcher Jake Wise had Tommy John surgery following the 2013 season.

— The burning sensation let Jake Wise know something wasn't right.

While warming up for an elimination game against Bryant in the NCAA regional at Kansas State last month, Wise felt a pop in his elbow on a routine throw. He didn't play that game or the one later that night when a pair of pitcher/catcher errors allowed Kansas State to score the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh inning.

"I had forearm tightness all year, but I thought it was because I was throwing a lot," Wise said. "Before the game I was doing some work and it felt like someone had taken a lighter to the bottom of my elbow."

Wise tore his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), requiring baseball's most dreaded surgery, Tommy John. He underwent the procedure shortly after the injury, beginning a 7 to 9 month recovery process that will end around the time the 2014 season begins next February.

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"Rehab is going well, on schedule," Wise said. "I've just got to be patient with it. Sometimes I get a little antsy; I want to go hit, go throw. I don't watch too much baseball because it makes me want to go do things."

Wise doesn't have to look far for encouragement or advice while rehabbing the injury. Arkansas catcher Blake Baxendale, the 2012 high school player of the year in the state, had Tommy John performed last November, forcing him to redshirt his first year with the Razorbacks.

Baxendale said he had never heard of a catcher needing the operation before he did, let alone two on the same team.

"I'd say that it's a bad irony," Baxendale said. "It's something that we can sit back and laugh at now, but it's something that is pretty serious in the game of baseball.

"As soon as I found out that he needed Tommy John, I sent him a text and let him know that any questions that he had, I mean I could answer them since I had recently gone through it. Basically, the talks that we have had have been about how important the rehab is and how important it is to stay on track with the rehab. I told him best of luck with it and we'll be together in the fall and any help he needs then, I'll be there to give it to him."

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Blake Baxendale was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette player of the year as a high school senior.

Tommy John for position players actually isn't that uncommon, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. The difference is the amount of time away. The stress put on the elbow by pitchers requires a much longer recovery time of 12 to 18 months.

"It is a little bit unusual, but I've seen catchers have it, obviously," Van Horn said. "They do a lot of throwing and it's just wear and tear.

"With Jake, he was probably just hurting it over the years and it finally happened, and he did it throwing extremely hard to the bases in pregame."

While most of his teammates are playing baseball in summer leagues, Wise spends his days rehabbing at Baum Stadium. The work begins in the morning with work to increase flexibility and range of motion in the arm. He follows that up by lifting 5-pound weights to rebuild strength in his arm in addition to his normal off-season conditioning.

"It's really about getting our arm back in shape and re-finding our release point with the ball so we know where it's going," Baxendale said.

The injury cost Wise a chance to be drafted alongside 11 of his teammates in June. With a reputation for playing solid defense, he had been a sure-fire pick days earlier.

Wise threw out 20 of 52 base runners last season and had 32 assists overall.

"Defense was my specialty and they were going to draft me because I was a quality defender," Wise said. "They don't want to take that risk with a hurt arm when they can draft you a year later.

"I completely understand with the uncertainty. I kind of knew once I had the surgery that I wasn't going to get drafted."

Wise, a team captain last season, said he hopes to be cleared to swing the bat by mid-August and to throw by some time in September.

"If the season were to start on Christmas, I think I could play," Wise said. "I might not be 100 percent, but I think I could play."

A healthy Wise could prove pivotal for the Razorbacks in 2014. With all of his classmates having signed professional contracts this summer, Wise considers himself the "old man" on the team as Arkansas' only true senior.

Despite his optimism, whether he will be available to play a full season remains to be seen.

"Hopefully he comes back and gets healthy to where he was," Van Horn said. "Throwing-wise, that would really be a major plus. But even if he's not until maybe late into the season, just his knowledge and experience of the game will bring a lot to our lineup.

"I think in the meantime, he'll help Blake out and we have a few other catchers that are going to battle. If he was 100 percent healthy, it would be tough to beat him out, but with the situation the way it is, it's going to be wide open in the fall with Blake being the most experienced catcher we have on the roster."

Baxendale was cleared to throw before the 2013 season ended and said he is "just a doctor's visit away" from full clearance to practice when fall workouts begin Sept. 7. He is coaching on his dad's traveling showcase team this summer to stay close to the game.

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Wise started 52 games behind the plate as a junior.

"With Jake out, it just means I have to work every single day and put extra time in to make sure I'm that guy," Baxendale said. "And our goal as a catching staff, I guess you could say, is to have the best catching corps in the country. As soon as Jake gets released, he'll be just as good, if not better, than he was last year. So I'm working to ensure that we have the best catching staff in the country."

Wise hopes to use the time off to rest from a long season in which he started 52 games behind the plate. Van Horn said it will give him a chance to heal more than just his body.

"It was just a major disappointment where he hurts the elbow and doesn't get drafted," Van Horn said. "This gives him time to not only get his body back in shape and healthy, but maybe get his mind right as well. If he was out playing and didn't get drafted, I think he'd be super frustrated. But the way it went down, I think it will be a plus for him to be here, rest and rehab and he'll be ready to go come the spring."