Padres treasure Jones hopes to recover like he pitched — quickly
After back surgery, Cy Young lefty eyes opener, loves clock
The grittiest San Diego Padre going says he’ll be there for opening day.
A piece of advice, Randy Jones: steer clear of the ballpark metal detectors.
“I could build a shotgun with the steel I’ve got in my spine now,” Jones cracked
Thursday.
“They put three cages in between my disks,” he said of last month’s surgery.
“Took about 10 screws, couple of steel shanks,” he reported.
Breathing tubes left his throat raw, other challenges swelled his feet. The painkillers did only so much. The surgery lasted 10 hours.
But when the 73-year-old former Cy Young winner got a good look at his formerly crooked spine, it was every bit the eighth wonder of the world the Astrodome was when he pitched there.
“I saw the X-ray — the SOB was straight again,” said the former ballplayer, “and I went, ‘Go to hell, that looks weird.’ ”
If the 2023 Padres are as resilient as Jones and wife Marie, whose wedding was 53 years ago, there may be a World Series trophy in their future. While Jones was undergoing reconstructive spine surgery last month, Marie was recovering from a pair of Achilles tendon procedures. Their two daughters aided an ongoing recovery that has Jones optimistic he’ll attend the Padres’ March 30 opener in the East Village.
Using a walker to steady himself as he heals, but hopeful he’ll be golfing next winter, Jones won’t be as frisky as he was for the 1975 opener in Mission Valley, when he threw nine scoreless innings only to see the Giants’ Jim Barr shut out his team through 10.
He won’t stride confidently to the San Diego Stadium mound as he did in 1976 to open the franchise’s eighth major league season.
He held the Braves to one run in nine innings as 44,278 fans looked on. This time his teammates put up several runs, and one of the great individual seasons in Padres history was underway. With slow-speed sinkers and sliders that infuriated hitters from coast to coast, the lefty would lead the league in complete games (25), innings pitched (3151⁄3) and WHIP (1.027) en route to the
with a seven-man bullpen while using six starters. However, Joe Musgrove’s fractured left big toe likely means eight relievers will be on the team for at least a time. The belief entering the spring was that reliever Drew Pomeranz would be ready for opening day, which may or may not be the case; the left-hander has yet to appear in a spring training game.
Most notably, though, Stammen has given himself a chance to continue a bigleague career that began in 2009. He is back to being sharp. Sharpness is what he felt he lacked most while pitching through a shoulder injury last season, and sharpness is what a pitcher with a 91 mph fastball must have.
Stammen missed two months in the middle of the ’22 season with a shoulder injury.
He initially thought his career might be over then. But rehab and a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection allowed him to come back to finish the year. He was not on the roster for any of the Padres’ three playoff series.
A couple more PRP injections and more strengthening of the shoulder didn’t entirely fix what ailed him. He won’t disclose the precise injury. But he has healed enough that he feels like he went back in time.
“It feels a lot better right now,” he said. “I feel a lot like I did in 2021.”
It took a couple games this spring for Stammen to find the command that serves him so well when he is right. But since then, he has seemed a lot like the pitcher who has been among the most durable relievers in the majors.
Even with just 402⁄3 innings last season, Stammen has thrown more innings (3941⁄3) since 2017 than any other pitcher who made at
least 95 percent of his appearances as a reliever in that stretch.
He got just three doubleplay grounders in 2022, and his 4.43 ERA was his highest in 10 full seasons as a reliever. Still, his 3.36 ERA ranks 26th among all relievers who pitched at least 250 innings, and his 39 double plays are tied for third most among relievers since 2017.
Just eight pitchers older than Stammen threw more innings than he did in 2022. All eight were starters.
Stammen had only minor league offers in the offseason, which made returning to the Padres an easy decision. The team’s longesttenured major leaguer, who many teammates (even position players) consider a mentor, vowed to himself when he arrived near the beginning of the Padres’ roster remodel to do all he could to help the franchise become a winner — and to stick around to see it happen.
“It’s been amazing to be a part of it so far,” he said. “To tack one more year on of playoff baseball, being on a great team with great players, great people, it would be a great way to move toward the end of my career.”
Even if he makes the opening-day roster, Stammen could be fighting to remain in the majors all season. If he’s not in the majors, his service time means he would have to be released rather than sent to the minor leagues or be subject to waivers.
“If another team wants me to play, for sure I’m gonna play for them,” he said. “I feel too good, and I’m having a lot of fun. Very joyful just to be here. I’m thankful. … That’s not where my head’s at. But I know how the game works. But my focus right now is to be the best version of myself and prove to them that I still got it and that I can be a valuable option for them as well.”