A believed crossed his mind and he couldn’t let it fade away during the car ride.
The Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, had just put Nolan Sanburn on the disabled list last season. He was now on his way to a local hospital for an MRI on his throwing shoulder.
He started the season healthy, but slowly over time his shoulder started to bother him. Every pitch brought pain. There was inflammation in Sanburn’s shoulder, which made it feel like his rotator cuff was rubbing versus something each time he made a pitch.
So, the team shut him down.
“Driving over to the hospital, I called my dad,” said Sanburn, a Kokomo High School graduate. “I said, ‘I don’t know what this is, but I could have thrown the last pitch of my career today.’ Everybody’s career is going to end one day, whether you’re 12 years old or 40 years old. But I was a little rattled to be honest.”
The good news: nothing was structurally wrong with his shoulder.
The bad news: Sanburn still needed a cortisone injection and rehabilitation. That took away all of June and most of July last year.
“Instead of thinking about executing, I was thinking how can I throw this ball without it hurting,” Sanburn said. “It wasn’t a very successful season, but I think with educational purposes, I learned a lot about myself and the organization with what I need to do and who I need to talk to when it comes to getting things done.”
A few mechanical changes to his delivery, along with shoulder exercises allowed Sanburn to return for the final few weeks of last season fully healthy. He felt good in spring training this year, but the end of camp didn’t go as planned. He was sent to High-A Winston Salem, a step below where he was the previous season.
Sanburn appeared in three games with Winston-Salem, allowing just four hits and no runs in 7.2 innings. He struck out 11 and walked just one batter. And with that, he was promoted back up to Birmingham.
“I was a little shocked that I went there,” Sanburn said. “But at the same time I went there and proved that [High-A] was no longer competition and they moved me up thankfully.”
Looking back, Sanburn said he showed some hesitancy after being promoted back up to the Double-A level. The promotion was a good thing and in numerous ways could be considered a step forward. But at the same time, Sanburn couldn’t help but feel like he was simply back to where he reached last season.
The early results with Birmingham showed something was a little off. Sanburn appeared in four games in April, but allowed seven runs on 10 hits in seven innings. During that first month, Sanburn was depending on his fastball and curveball, Birmingham pitching coach J.R. Perdew said.
“His curveball was good, but he couldn’t depend on it all of the time,” Perdew said.
Sanburn has actually added two pitches to his repertoire — a slider and softer changeup. His fastball — which sits in the 92 MPH range — has actually a little cut to it, which plays well with his slider.
“Hitters are having a hard time seeing the difference,” Perdew said. “The slider has actually really helped him a lot.”
The month of June this season was nearly flawless for Sanburn. He converted all four of his save opportunities. He allowed two runs on four hits in 8.1 innings over seven appearances. His WHIP — walks plus hits per inning — was a miniscule 0.84 during that span.
The change in productivity is simple. Sanburn is more consistent with being able to throw multiple types of pitches. Plus, he has actually made a simple change in philosophy: he’s learning to be a pitcher and not a thrower.
“I think what clicked for me is that I figured out how to throw a lot of strikes, fill up the strike zone, and not try to be too fine,” Sanburn said. “I’m not trying to paint the corners, not trying to put it at the knees all the time.”
Sanburn will turn 25 next week. Hardly an old man, but at the same time he feels a sense of urgency to reach his ultimate goal: play in the major leagues. MLB.com ranks the top-30 prospects in each organization. Sanburn isn’t found on that list.
“I’ve maxed out when it comes to potential and the prospect tag is kind of off me at this point, I’m sure,” Sanburn said. “The thing that separates me is that I know who I am. I know what I have to do to get guys out. I know I don’t have 99 MPH in the tank anymore.”
A day could be spent looking up information on prospects within the White Sox organization. How old are the pitchers the major league team has actually promoted? What were their stats in Birmingham or Triple-A Charlotte? What round were those players drafted?
But spending time on worrying about that information would certainly be fruitless. Instead, Sanburn said he focuses on maximizing his performance each time on the mound. However, he admitted, that might not have been the case as a younger player.
“I would certainly say it’s something I definitely matured into,” Sanburn said. “….you compare yourself to other people and everyone else’s stats and see who is getting called up and at what age. It starts to eat at you a little bit especially when I was younger.”
Major league rosters will expand to 40 players at the end of August. But that also means players will need to be promoted to fill out Triple-A rosters. Ideally, Sanburn gets promoted to one of those levels.
Sanburn is likely most adept to become a middle reliever or setup man at the major league level. Oftentimes, closers are throwing in the 98 MPH range.
“But he’s definitely capable of playing in any role he wants to in relief,” Perdew said. “…A lot of these guys have big league stuff, but it’s a master of being able to do it day in and day out. It just takes time to gain that consistency.”
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