After three Tommy John surgeries, pitcher Daulton Jefferies is trying for another MLB comeback

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Time for that first changeup.

Daulton Jefferies utters those words aloud to nobody in particular on a cold December morning at Heather Farm Park. This out-of-the-way diamond has become the pitcher's personal rehab home as he attempts a fourth baseball comeback, following a third Tommy John surgery.

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 — and on Saturday in Arizona, he will hold a pro day so the experts can evaluate his progress.

''People are going to think I'm nuts, but I am a little bit,'' he said, ''You have to be.''

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's quest to get back into a uniform.

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.

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's a former major leaguer in training.

He may never be back to full strength, and came to terms with that long ago.

''I feel like I just keep getting next chances,'' Jefferies said. ''If you're going to be dumb, you've got to be tough. Honestly, I like it when I feel a little bit of soreness or stuff like that — a lot of pitchers are like this, too. We don't like feeling 100% because we just don't know where our body is sometimes.''

Another round of rehab

Jefferies is an expert by now when it comes to the rehab routine.

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.

''It is kind of nice doing it by yourself, too, though, because you're at your own pace.''

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.

''I decided I don't know if my career's over or not. I went back and forth with Natalie and myself and my dad,'' he said. ''I had a few identity crises of like ‘who am I outside of baseball, who is Daulton Jefferies?' So it took me a little bit to figure that out.''

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.

''So 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,'' he said.

Everyone in his inner circle encouraged him to give it one last hurrah.

''My dad was like, ‘Dude, you've got to go, you've got to go for it,''' Jefferies recalled of the conversation, ''and I was like ‘yeah, I'm going to regret it if I don't.'''

Yet given how his career keeps getting derailed by that troublesome right elbow, the decision was a daunting one.

A first-round draft pick in 2016, Jefferies has played parts of four major league seasons with the Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh. He owns a 2-10 career record with a 6.59 ERA over 20 outings with 11 starts spanning 71 total innings.

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.

''I'm a 30-year-old, I've got some time, yeah,'' he said. ''There's 34-year-olds in the big leagues, 37-year-olds. I can do it at 30.''

It takes a village

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.

Twice a week Jefferies has been unloading the equipment from his truck and going through a throwing regimen he has adapted over time.

''Poor Natalie she ends up being the one to pick up balls,'' he said.

''Oh, I hit the guy but it's OK,'' he said with a smile, ''it moved.''

Each time, Jefferies begins his extensive warmup with a resistance band hooked to the back fence. It's red, chosen years ago when he had hoped to join the Angels. His radar gun has water damage, so he doesn't know for sure how hard he's throwing, but he was clocked in the low 90s recently on a visit to Arizona.

''I'm very proud of Daulton,'' said his father, John. ''And I know when he puts his mind to something he makes it happen.''

Natalie acknowledged the courage it takes for her husband to keep chasing this dream, through setback after setback — and with that gnarly scar on his right arm serving as a constant reminder of it all.

''Very proud,'' she said. ''He's proud of what he's been able to accomplish in baseball. He loves the sport so much and why not try again? He's working a full-time job, he's going to school and late at night he's training. It's pretty amazing.''

''He's seen me out here a few times when it's getting dark, so he teaches the kids about showing up when no one else is watching,'' Jefferies said.

It's hard to imagine how he fits everything into a single day – from the job to classes, lifting weights and throwing, to being a newlywed.

''It takes a village,'' Natalie said.

''It takes a village,'' her husband repeated.

Jefferies realizes there's no one he has to convince that he can still do this, but he wants this for himself — one more time.

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