Right-hander Drew Thorpe joins White Sox as he continues recovery from Tommy John surgery
Drew Thorpe needed a reprieve to break up the monotony of rehab. The right-hander, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, joined his White Sox teammates to escape the scorching Arizona heat and feel some of the energy from his friends.
Baseball is a communal game. For 162 games, players interact with each other more than their families. That’s why the insular nature of rehab can be jarring for some players. Thorpe, who passed the time between rehab sessions playing the video game ‘‘MLB The Show,’’ needed a new environment.
“A lot better than last year, just vibe-wise,” Thorpe said of being around the Sox this season. “Everything seems like it’s meshing well. We’re playing a lot better than last year, and I think we’re still very young, so a lot of progress to be made, but I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Thorpe, who was 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA over nine starts in 2024, figures to be a key part of the Sox’ future. After being acquired as the headliner from the Padres a year ago in the Dylan Cease trade, Thorpe impressed early with a 3.03 ERA over his first seven starts before struggling in his final two outings — 14 earned runs over 5‰ innings.
In September 2024, Thorpe had season-ending surgery to shave down a bone spur and was shut down from throwing. Recurring soreness occurred during the offseason and required a cortisone shot on Jan. 24. He said after suffering the injury that “the ligament was kind of giving up, and that’s why the inflammation kept coming back.” Thorpe has tried not to dwell much on his misfortunes.
“Everything felt good throughout the whole process,” he said. “I mean it sucked, but it is what it is at the end of the day. [There’s] nothing I can do about it but keep putting my foot forward and get there when I get there.”
Thorpe wasn’t alone in his elbow woes; Sox pitching prospects Juan Carela, Ky Bush and Blake Larson all suffered Tommy John injuries this spring. On the major-league team, Davis Martin, Sean Burke and Grant Taylor also have blown out their elbows.
Those pitchers understand how rigorous the recovery process is and have been sounding boards for Thorpe.
“The moment you start getting out to games, you just have a completely different appreciation for what you’re doing,” Taylor told the Sun-Times. “Sometimes you can get lost in the results and forget to look around and realize that what you’re doing is cool and what you’ve dreamed about. Being back in a clubhouse is completely underrated.”
Thorpe said he has begun lifting to strengthen his arm again; the process will take around two to three months. Thorpe estimates that he’ll be able to resume throwing in the middle of October if everything goes smoothly before then. He’s using this pause on game action as a reset.
“Taking almost six, seven months off of throwing . . . [it’s a] new elbow,”
Thorpe said. “It’s not like starting over, but in a sense it is starting over.”
It’s hard for Thorpe to be patient as he anticipates his return to the mound — which could be sometime next June or July — but he has enjoyed watching the rotation that he hopes to join next year.
“We have a good group of young core starters that are kind of going through it right now, and it will be good to have us all together at the end of next year,” Thorpe said.