After Tommy John surgery, former Fox Chapel left-hander Monteverde motivated to take career to next level

A year ago, former Fox Chapel left-hander Pat Monteverde was coming off one of the best innings of his life.

The then-sophomore at Seton Hill had thrown 10 pitches and struck out three Augustana batters during the Griffins’ spring break trip to Florida. Augustana was the defending NCAA Division II national champion, and Monteverde got the seventh inning started on a good note.

He had the first batter 0-2 and went to throw an up-and-in fastball for the strikeout. But the pitch had a different outcome than what he was hoping for.

“As soon as I released it, I felt a pop right on my UCL (ulnar collateral ligament),” Monteverde said.

Monteverde said normally your arm goes numb and you lose all your grip strength with a UCL injury, but he wasn’t suffering from either of those symptoms. So, he stepped back onto the mound.

“I tried to throw another pitch and as soon as my arm went back, it was like the worst pain I ever felt,” Monteverde said. “So, I knew something was up. I kind of had a feeling. I called Maz (coach Marc Marizzaldi) and DJ (coach DJ Cannon) out and I told them what had happened, and they pulled me.”

Shortly after his outing, Monteverde was diagnosed with a torn left UCL, the ligament on the inside of his elbow. About two weeks after that, he had Tommy John surgery and began his tedious recovery.

Monteverde, who went 4-3 with a 3.25 ERA as a sophomore at Seton Hill, said he was in a sling for two weeks, then was placed in a “robo arm,” which he said controlled how much arm movement he could have. For the first month of rehab, all Monteverde did was pronation, supination and grip strength exercises, along with 2-pound curls and tricep extensions about three days a week.

“Then I progressed to bigger and better things,” Monteverde said. “But I was in rehab up until January, so about 10 months.”

Almost a year after his surgery, Monteverde returned to the mound when the Griffins were in Florida on their spring break trip. The 6-foot-2 Monteverde got the start in their fifth game and recorded a strong performance.

In 2²/₃ innings, he allowed one unearned run on one hit and struck out two. For Monteverde, the best part was the feeling of getting back on the mound in a game situation.

“That was probably the biggest thing I missed, just being competitive on the field,” he said. “You can do all the drills in the world to make it as game-like as possible, but there’s nothing that really compares to competing in an actual game and facing another team with something on the line.”

Since he was young, Monteverde has always competed. At Fox Chapel, he posted a career ERA of 1.88 in 112 innings and struck out 112 over three years.

Then, Monteverde showed up to Division III Virginia Wesleyan as a freshman and put together an impressive year where he was the 2017 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year with a 7-2 record and 1.96 ERA.

With such a succesful season under his belt, he decided it was time to push himself even further. So, he transferred and found that motivation at D-II Seton Hill.

“I had something to chase there, and it pushed me. It made me work harder,” Monteverde said. “The whole team, the whole competitive atmosphere, was kind of like nothing I’ve ever been a part of until this point.”

“Everyone holds each other accountable. It’s extremely competitive with everything you do, and at the time, it was exactly what I was looking for. It really helped me become the man I am today.”

Now, Monteverde is motivated to take his career one step further as he has aspirations to play at the major league level. Since his college season was canceled, he has been traveling to Ohio three times a week and just recently started pitching to live hitters, as well.

“They are pro hitters, big-time college hitters,” Monteverde said. “So, it’s been really good for me personally, pushing myself, facing good competition.”

Not only is he pushing himself against tough competition, but he’s also continuing to improve and get bigger. Monteverde said he has gained about 12 pounds since he moved back to Fox Chapel during the pandemic, and he was also clocked at 94 mph on the radar gun.

Now, Monteverde is set to see what happens in the MLB Draft. But, after the draft shortened to five rounds due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Fox Chapel is hoping for the best.