It’s an era of baseball with pitchers throwing as hard they can, with spin rate as the main goal. It’s also an era where serious elbow/arm injuries are happening, with “Tommy John” surgery at an all-time high.
Tommy John surgery, named after the original baseball player to undergo the procedure, repair the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the inner part of the elbow. It aims to help support the elbow, during motions like throwing.
It used to be a rare, and career-ending, thing. Now, it’s not as heart-dropping to learn a pitcher is hurt, because it is likely they will return to play after recovery.
Michigan State right-handed pitchers Tate Farquhar and Ryan Szczepaniak follow that pattern.
Pitchers will usually hear a pop in the elbow after throwing a certain pitch. This can be from gradual pain in the elbow that has built up over time.
It is just a matter of who hears the elbow pop first. The MSU pitchers heard their audio confirmation of elbow damage during the summer of 2023.
“I wouldn’t say it just happened out of nowhere,” said Szczepaniak, a business major in his third year with Spartans baseball.. “At first, obviously, taking baseball out of your everyday life that you’ve known for 10 years, it’s different.”
Szczepaniak had his surgery on Aug. 9, 2023. Farquhar had his surgery July 7, 2023.
The plan started to shape where they would be doing all their rehab together once they got back to school.
“I was hurt the year previous,” said Farquhar, sophomore from Highland, Mich. majoring in Kinesiology. “They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. Then I got the UCL diagnosis for Tommy John. It was nice to figure out what was wrong with me. But it stunk because that meant another year, I would have to spend doing rehab and recovery when I’ve already done so much.”
This time around for Farquhar, he had someone in his corner who knew what he was going through.
“I love all the guys on the team, but not everyone can relate to me.” said Farquhar. “There are some guys who have gotten (Tommy John) but not everyone can relate. When I found out Ryan had to get Tommy John, I felt like our relationship was already stronger than it was just because we knew we were going to have to go through the same process together, and that was really great to have.”
And funny enough, that same person is now his neighbor in East Lansing.
“Our relationship has grown tremendously,” said Szczepaniak. When you’re spending so much time together in the training room, the weight room doing the same type of program, and then going home and looking down the road and can see each other, it’s easy to get so close.”
Farquhar and Szczepaniak had to go through an experience no athlete wants to have - the sport ripped from them just like that. This set a mentality of learning new things and focusing on the aspects of their lives that mean the most to them, outside of baseball.
“We talk about this constantly,” said Szczepaniak, who chose Michigan State over Michigan, Penn State, and Eastern Michigan. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, school wise, my freshman year and a little bit of my sophomore year. Having baseball taken from you like that, I’m locking in more and taking more credits, too. What I actually want to do outside of baseball – it really forces you to see reality from where you are in that moment.”
Tommy John surgery forces a rehab process of roughly a year on most players. The stripping of baseball is only for a period of time in this case. Still, Farquhar and Szczepaniak know that it can’t last forever.
It’s now the end of the MSU’s 2024 season, and Farquhar and Szczepaniak were unable to throw an inning because of their prolonged rehabs.
Being away from the game has unlocked a new perspective for both of the right-handers.
“Ryan and I have found that, it’s not that we’ve lost our passion for baseball,” said Farquhar, whose brother Trent is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization as a middle infielder. “We know that one day baseball will stop, and it doesn’t define who we are. I want to work in baseball eventually, but I know that once our playing days are over, going through something like this, you get an understanding and an appreciation for who you are outside of baseball.”
Farquhar and Szczepaniak feel like they have grown up throughout this process together immensely. But the weight room and training room is not the only place the pitchers have become closer. The two will meet up to watch their team on TV when the team is on the road and spend time together outside of baseball when they cannot be with the team.
Seeing the road to recovery meet its long-awaited end point is a moment of pure joy. Szczepaniak and Farquhar recall the moments in which they shared a moment of gratitude for each other.
“Seeing each other throw for the first time,” said Szczepaniak. “All the countless hours in the training room, just not being able to do anything. Being the first ones to see each other throw, it’s kind of a sigh of relief – being able to see Tate throw for the first time since surgery.”
“For me, seeing Szczepaniak off the radar gun for the first time, hitting 90 (MPH), after everything, that was pretty cool to see,” said Farquhar. “We also have our pregame routine. After everyone leaves the locker room, Ryan and I, with Jack Jones – shout out to him because, although he doesn’t have Tommy John, he also goes through a lot of what we do – we play sad country, techno music, dim the lights. Those two things, they’re great.”
Now with more experience under them, Farquhar and Szczepaniak are ready to take on higher leadership roles.
“It’s pushed me to pick guys up and really reinforce the fact that, in a snap of a finger, the game can be gone from you,” said Szczepaniak. “So just come in here, take advantage of every day. Especially trying to pick the younger guys up a bit and get them going in the right direction.”
Having a brother who went from college baseball to professional baseball gives way to a personalized role model. But Farquhar is carving out his own leadership role.
“You get a different perspective when you’re outside of things a little bit more during games and you see things from an outside view,” said Farquhar.
Ultimately, the goal of a college baseball player is to get to the Major Leagues. Though Tommy John is a setback, the ability to come back stronger is not uncommon.
Just being able to play again is the real goal.
“Once I play again, and I think I can speak for Ryan and I both when I say this, when I play again I am going to be super grateful,” said Farquhar. “It’s going to be so fun because I know what it feels like to have Tommy John and not be able to play for two years. So I think Tommy John is also going to help change my perspective a bit when I get to be out there again.”