WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Time for that first changeup.<\/p>\n
Daulton Jefferies<\/a> utters those words aloud to nobody in particular on a cold December morning at Heather Farms Park. This out-of-the-way diamond has become the pitcher\u2019s personal rehab home as he attempts a fourth baseball comeback, following a third Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n Plagued by injuries and arm issues, Jefferies had all but moved on from baseball and was working full-time in commercial real estate and taking college classes toward his sociology degree at the University of California at Berkeley. Only recently did he realize he was ready to go all in again and began throwing twice a week in a public park \u2014 and on Saturday in Arizona, he will hold a pro day so the experts can evaluate his progress. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are going to think I\u2019m nuts, but I am a little bit,\u201d he said, \u201cYou have to be.\u201d<\/p>\n For anybody stopping by, Jefferies lets them know he can be found on the last field on the right. It’s typically just him, some modest equipment and his supportive new wife, Natalie, always eager to jump in and help with any task necessary in her husband\u2019s quest to get back into a uniform.<\/p>\n Jefferies bought a makeshift turf mound online for about $70 and a pitching target that catches the balls, which he grabs from a plastic bucket about a foot away from where he stands.<\/p>\n As Jefferies stretches out his arm with some throws from about 110 feet, a boy is receiving a golf lesson in right field directly behind him. On the weeknights, parents pull out lawn chairs as their kids run around playing soccer. They pay him little attention, unaware he\u2019s a former major leaguer in training.<\/p>\n The wind is whipping and Jefferies is only in a T-shirt and lightweight pants when he blows into his pitching hand, an old Pirates July 4 holiday hat on backward as he lets it fly.<\/p>\n He may never be back to full strength, and came to terms with that long ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I just keep getting next chances,\u201d Jefferies said. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be dumb, you\u2019ve got to be tough. Honestly, I like it when I feel a little bit of soreness or stuff like that \u2014 a lot of pitchers are like this, too. We don\u2019t like feeling 100% because we just don\u2019t know where our body is sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n Another round of rehab<\/p>\n Jefferies is an expert by now when it comes to the rehab routine.<\/p>\n To mimic PT techniques, he uses the back of a butter knife to massage out scar tissue and reduce inflammation in the elbow and now owns his own cupping set.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel good, surprisingly,\u201d Jefferies said. \u201cI\u2019ve done this whole thing pretty much by myself, rehab and everything. I\u2019ve done it four times, I\u2019ve done rehab four times. They were all 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is kind of nice doing it by yourself, too, though, because you\u2019re at your own pace.\u201d<\/p>\n After his third elbow surgery in November 2024, he would go to the gym with Natalie to lift weights and do his physical therapy exercises.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided I don\u2019t know if my career\u2019s over or not. I went back and forth with Natalie and myself and my dad,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a few identity crises of like \u2018who am I outside of baseball, who is Daulton Jefferies?\u2019 So it took me a little bit to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n Many mornings now, he is on the road by 6:15 a.m. for San Francisco to exercise and then work before crossing the bay again for school in Berkeley. Every day is a whirlwind of activity and bridge tolls.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it was go to the gym early, go to work and then go to Berkeley and back to work and sometimes go back to Berkeley and then come home to Walnut Creek or to the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It was last summer when he sat down separately with Natalie and his dad.<\/p>\n Everyone in his inner circle encouraged him to give it one last hurrah.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was like, \u2018Dude, you\u2019ve got to go, you\u2019ve got to go for it,\u2019\u201d Jefferies recalled of the conversation, \u201cand I was like \u2018yeah, I\u2019m going to regret it if I don\u2019t.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Yet given how his career keeps getting derailed by that troublesome right elbow, the decision was a daunting one.<\/p>\n A first-round draft pick in 2016, Jefferies has played parts of four major league seasons with the Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants<\/a> and Pittsburgh. He owns a 2-10 career record with a 6.59 ERA over 20 outings with 11 starts spanning 71 total innings.<\/p>\n He missed the 2023 season recovering from his second Tommy John surgery in September 2022 and thoracic outlet surgery a few months before that. Jefferies then joined the Giants and had a 17.36 ERA over two outings when they designated him for assignment and ultimately traded him to the Pirates.<\/p>\n Former reliever Sergio Romo\u2019s mantra is always on the top of Jefferies’ mind for motivation: \u201cIt\u2019s not your last chance, it\u2019s your next one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a 30-year-old, I\u2019ve got some time, yeah,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s 34-year-olds in the big leagues, 37-year-olds. I can do it at 30.\u201d<\/p>\n It takes a village<\/p>\n Mid-workout, Jefferies politely summons Natalie over to the mound to shoot some video of him from the side. It will allow the right-hander to not only study his hip angle and delivery but also have some clips handy if anybody requests them.<\/p>\n Twice a week Jefferies has been unloading the equipment from his truck and going through a throwing regimen he has adapted over time.<\/p>\n \u201cPoor Natalie she ends up being the one to pick up balls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Time for that changeup. The pitch strays a little wild.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I hit the guy but it\u2019s OK,\u201d he said with a smile, \u201cit moved.\u201d<\/p>\n