Bryan Radziewski stronger than ever after fearsome injury

The UM pitcher is dominating after tearing his labrum last year.

([Sun Sentinel Wire Photo] )
May 9, 2013|By Dieter Kurtenbach, Sun Sentinel

CORAL GABLES — No UM baseball player is having a better season than starting pitcher Bryan Radziewski. 

B-Rad, as he's called by his coaches and teammates, is dominating the ACC. His earned run average is a microscopic 0.97, and he he's striking out an average of 11 batters per nine innings. He's even made his way onto the watch list for one of amateur baseball's most prestigious honor, the Golden Spikes Award.

The success is surreal for the self-proclaimed "fat guy" because this time last year, Radziewski thought he might never pitch again after tearing the labrum in his left, throwing shoulder. 

Ironically, the thing that put his career in jeopardy might have made him the dominant pitcher he is today. 

The Florida Christian School grad came to Miami with few expectations from the coaching staff and fans, but he nonetheless made a big splash. Despite being undersized (5-foot-10, 195 pounds), Radziewski quickly became the Hurricanes' team ace as a freshman. His nine wins in 2011 led the team and he was named to the Baseball America All-Freshman second team. 

"I was never getting recognized in high school because I was short, fat and I don't throw that hard," Radziewski said. "It was neat to finally show what I can do — and I can pitch."

He started his sophomore season as a counted-on player at Miami, but something was awry in his shoulder. After five forgettable starts, he had to come clean. He was diagnosed with a partial tear and underwent surgery, forcing him miss the remainder of the 2012 season. 

Will Carroll, who many call "the injury expert," wrote an article for Slate magazine in 2004 calling the torn labrum "baseball's most fearsome injury." 

At the time the article was published, less than 5 percent of Major League Baseball players returned from the injury with all their "stuff" — pitch velocity, movement, control and stamina.

As Carroll put it: if pitchers with torn labrums were horses, they'd be euthanized.  

The outlook isn't as bleak anymore, but still, less than half of the pitchers who sustain the injury fully recover from it.

Radziewski began his rehabilitation immediately after surgery, but after starting it, he was told by doctors to stop throwing. 

"It was up and down. I was good, then I was bad," Radziewski said. "I just didn't understand. I was supposed to go to therapy three times a week, and I went every single day. I thought it would pay off then and I would feel fine, but that didn't happen. It was heartbreaking."

The rehab was as mentally taxing as it was physically demanding. When he was finally able to return to the team, Radziewski said he was petrified. The fear that the action on his fastball would never come back, that his breaking ball would never break again. 

Those fears proved unfounded. 

Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera's surefire Hall of Fame career was built on his cut fastball. It's close to the only pitch he throws, and he discovered it messing around during a bullpen session. 

Radziewski is no Rivera, but during his first bullpen session at full strength, he, too, saw his fastball darting across the plate like it never had before. 

There was bonus, too: "I actually can throw a change up now — it's unreal," Radziewski said. 

Alex San Juan, Radziewski's best friend and UM's starting catcher agrees that it's "unreal". The action on the fastball is making his job behind the plate more difficult.

"The fastball, you have no idea what it's going to do at any time," San Juan said. "His pitches have a mind of their own. It's like catching a knuckleballer." 

As the Hurricanes (32-18) enter their final two weeks of the regular season, they'll be leaning on Radziewski to bring the squad two wins. He's scheduled to pitch Saturday at Wake Forest.

Radziewski plans to keep working his two- and four-seam fastballs like a Jedi, using the force to dart them around the strike zone. With all that movement, it's amazing that they always seem to find the outside corner of the plate, but they do. 

"He gets ugly swings and ugly at-bats against everybody," San Juan said. "He's fun to watch. He makes people look funny sometimes, honestly."

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