Fletcher shows elbow injury is in the past
Senior lefthander named the best pitcher in conference
March 11, 2016. That’s the date Aaron Fletcher underwent Tommy John surgery, a procedure that, even with the advancement in medicine, offers no certainty a pitcher will ever return to past form.
Twenty-six months later, Fletcher, a senior lefthander for the University of Houston, admits he rarely gives the surgery much thought, except for times it “helps me to keep pushing.”
“You just have to take it dayby-day,” Fletcher added, “and have faith that everything is going to be all right and trust the process.”
Here’s a new date for the calendar: May 22, 2018.
That’s when Fletcher completed his comeback by being named the American Athletic Conference pitcher of the year.
“He deserves to be pitcher of the year,” UH coach Todd Whitting said Monday. “He’s earned it. From wire-to-wire, he’s been the most consistent pitcher in our conference.”
Late during fall workouts in 2015, Fletcher began to experience tightness in his left elbow and a decrease in velocity. He made four relief appearances as a sophomore before undergoing season-ending surgery.
“Being hurt put a lot of things into perspective,” said Fletcher, who will start for top-seeded UH against Tulane in Tuesday’s opener at the AAC tournament in Clearwater, Fla. “I can’t get enough of this place. I can’t wait to get out here every day and just treat it like that every time I come out here.”
Other than a scar that serves as a reminder, Fletcher said he gave no thought of what he went through upon returning to the mound less than a year later.
“It was a learning experience,” he said. “It’s over. I’ve got to move on.”
To limit his workload, Fletcher was used in the closer’s role during the 2017 season and finished with eight saves in 21 relief appearances, tied for the most on the team.
“With the surgery setback, he didn’t stop working,” Whitting said. “He didn’t pout. He put his head down and kept on grinding. He worked like crazy in rehab.”
Fletcher did not find out until just before the start of this season that he would move to the starting rotation, pairing with lefthander Trey Cumbie — the 2017 AAC pitcher of the year — to give the Cougars one of the top pitching combos in the league.
For the season, Fletcher went 6-2 with a 1.82 ERA and two complete games. He struck out nine in a complete game shutout of Memphis and followed a few weeks later with 11 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over ranked South Florida.
“(Being a starter) is definitely a change that I liked,” Fletcher said. “It’s been fun.”
Whitting said Fletcher began the process of becoming an elite pitcher during his freshman season.
“He and I had a conversation about getting his body in better shape and becoming more athletic,” Whitting said. “Very rarely do you mention something to one guy and he absolutely changes his life. From that point, he became a really hard worker. He definitely became more athletic.”
As a result, Whitting said Fletcher developed effective secondary pitches and a fastball with “a ton of sink.” Fletcher ranks among the top 10 in the AAC in strikeouts with 75 in 84 innings. For his career, Fletcher’s 1.86 ERA currently is the best in school history.
What makes Fletcher’s achievement as pitcher of the year even more impressive is the quality of arms in the AAC, which features USF’s Shane McClanahan, a projected top-10 pick in next month’s Major League Baseball draft.
“If you look at the numbers, it’s far and away Aaron Fletcher is the best pitcher in this league from a results standpoint,” Whitting said.