Detroit Tigers pitching prospect Alex Faedo, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Florida, said in October 2020 he thought he was ready for his MLB debut.
He had pitched a full season for Double-A Erie in 2019, impressing with a 3.90 ERA with 25 walks and 134 strikeouts across 115⅓ innings in 22 starts. When the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the minor leagues in 2020, the right-hander reported to Comerica Park for the second round of spring training but tested positive for the virus in July. He spent 20 days in quarantine, then traveled to the alternate training site in Toledo. Faedo was shut down in late August with a right forearm strain and missed his final two starts. Still, he expected to make a full recovery without setbacks.
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On Jan. 6, Faedo underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2021 season.
“I’ll say it until the day I die,” Faedo, nearly 12 months later, said Dec. 19. “I got hurt because of COVID, from losing all that weight, being out of shape and then coming back was too much for my arm while being down that much weight. I was 191-195 (pounds) going into when I had surgery.”
The 26-year-old now weighs 220 pounds and feels in the best shape of his life. Faedo is throwing off flat ground up to 200 feet, recently started pulldowns (also known as running throws) and plans to throw bullpens in early January. He is taking a day-to-day approach to his rehab, so he doesn’t want to guess when he will return to a professional game.
As for his MLB debut, Faedo isn’t adding unnecessary pressure.
“There’s a process,” said Faedo, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Tigers’ No. 15 prospect. “I’m not worried about where I’m going to be throwing. I just want to be throwing, and I want to execute my pitches, and I want to do the best I can for the team and organization. If you do that, good things happen. They’ll put you in other places where they think you can help them.”
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MLB lockout ‘not ideal’
The collective bargaining agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 1, and it took MLB owners two minutes to institute a lockout. By locking out the players, the owners aim to motivate the MLB Players Association to agree on a new labor contract ahead of 2022 spring training.
Until there’s a resolution, communication between the teams and the players on each 40-man roster is forbidden. That means Faedo, who joined the 40-man roster in November 2020, can’t speak to anyone from the Tigers about his Tommy John rehab. Players also cannot use team facilities. Faedo resides in Lakeland, Florida, but he is barred from entering his team’s spring training complex.
“I live in Lakeland, but I’m not allowed to go to the facility,” Faedo said. “I have to do my PT (physical therapy) and my training down in Tampa. I do that early in the morning, and then I drive back up here and I meet Matt Manning. We throw at a local field. They got a football field that we found, so it’s perfect. We got the yards marked out there, so we know exactly how far we’re throwing. We have our throwing programs and work with that. So, it’s all been good. Like, it’s not ideal. But it can always be worse. We’re getting our work in each and every day.”
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Before the lockout, Tigers rehab coordinator Corey Tremble paired Faedo with Jeremy Maddox, the owner of Optimal Performance and Physical Therapies in Tampa. Faedo didn’t get to pick his physical therapist and hadn’t visited Maddox in the past, but he said Maddox “does a really good job.”
They work one-on-one for all things physical therapy, including range of motion, strength in different arm positions, strengthening certain areas of the arm and adding mobility. In the building next to Maddox’s place, there’s a “low-key” gym where Faedo trains. Everything runs through Maddox’s supervision.
“We’ve just been trying to work on my body movement as efficiently as possible, biomechanically,” Faedo said. “I really got my mechanics in a good spot going into Toledo for that alternate (training site). I lost all the weight, and I felt like I was still throwing the ball pretty damn good. … The process of rehabbing, doing things the right way, getting your shoulder stronger, getting your mechanics correct, all that is making everything work a little easier.”
Bromance with Wentz
For insight into Tommy John rehab, Faedo leaned on fellow Tigers pitching prospect Joey Wentz.
The Tigers acquired the left-hander at the 2019 trade deadline from the Atlanta Braves. He made five starts for Double-A Erie in a rotation that included Faedo, Manning, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal. Wentz fit right in with a 2.10 ERA, four walks and 37 strikeouts; he underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020.
“My thought process and everything is from Joey, just going through it all,” Faedo said. “Joey checks up on me just as much as my parents, maybe more than my parents. He’s one of my best buddies. He knows how tough it is, but at the same time, he knows you can get through it. He’s given me all sorts of advice and talks to me about everything.”
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Wentz returned to the mound on May 25, 2021. The 24-year-old pitched five games for Low-A Lakeland, then jumped to Double-A Erie on June 23 for his final 13 starts. In all 18 starts, he had a 4.50 ERA with 41 walks and 82 strikeouts in 72 innings. For the SeaWolves, he put up a 3.71 ERA with 33 walks and 58 strikeouts in 53⅓ innings.
In talking to Wentz, Faedo understood he needed to focus on one day at a time.
“Faedo is one of my best friends in the organization,” Wentz said Dec. 22. “You wouldn’t wish (Tommy John surgery) on anybody because it’s mentally tough and physically demanding. Certainly, I think he’ll come back great. It sounds like it’s going great, and his arm feels good. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him back on the mound and back in games.”
“(Wentz is) a really good, down-to-earth person,” Faedo said. “He’s smart and knows baseball well. He knows that he can make an impact on me. It’s weird because I’m talking about him like this old vet, but I’m older than he is. I’m older than him, and this guy is like the old, wise man. … He’s always got something that he’s working on, and that’s why he’s going to be really good.”
‘I want to be a part of that’
Faedo watched from the sidelines as Wentz got back in the groove of pitching.
He also watched Mize, Manning and Skubal complete their MLB rookie seasons under manager AJ Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter. There’s a good chance Faedo and Wentz join the Tigers at some point in 2022, either as starters or versatile relievers.
“We’ve been saying it for years,” Faedo said. “We have too good of a group of guys that are too talented to not find a way to be good in the near future. Casey, Tarik and Matt — those guys are really solid pitchers, really good people and really good teammates. When you have that camaraderie, and the position players know that, everyone gets behind each other.
“They’re trying to win games. The more experience they get, I want to be a part of that. I think something special is going to happen, and I think we’re going to win a lot of games. They already started doing that this year.”
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The three big leaguers praised Fetter during their discussions with Faedo.
Faedo was supposed to meet with Fetter to learn more about his strengths, but Tommy John surgery postponed the sharing of details. It should happen in February’s spring training, or whenever the lockout ends. For now, the Tigers want Faedo to stay focused on his right elbow.
“Everyone just bought in,” Faedo said of Fetter, who previously served as Michigan’s pitching coach in the 2018-20 seasons. “They knew this guy was smart. He’s the real deal. Guys are getting better each and every day, working with him and talking with him. I don’t want to spill any of his secrets. I know he’s really good metrically, like he knows how to read the scouting reports. For the analytics, he has his own he likes that aren’t talked about as much.”
The Tigers needs as many healthy arms as possible as the franchise pushes for a playoff appearance, signified by the additions of catcher Tucker Barnhart, left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and shortstop Javier Baez this offseason. If Faedo makes a full recovery, he should get to operate under Fetter’s tutelage in 2022 and share a locker room with his friends from the farm system.
And Faedo can’t wait to finally arrive.
“I just turned 26,” Faedo said. “I’m getting old. It’s difficult, but at the same time, it honestly could be worse. There’s so many other things. I’m happy I’m healthy. I’m happy my family’s healthy. I know I can handle it. For some people, they would have lost their mind.
“I feel like I’ve always had adversaries that I’ve had to battle through that may not have been public or anything like that. I’m not going to sit there and complain or make excuses. That’s the hand that I was dealt, and I’m going to make the best of it. I’m going to have to play an extra two years because I missed the last two. If I can play when I’m 45, I’m going to keep trying to chuck it. I don’t want to stop playing baseball.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.