Tommy John is widely known across the baseball world for the elbow surgery that bears his name and has renewed thousands of pitchers’ careers.
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But to Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, he was better known as a fellow Indiana native.
John died Saturday at age 83. Mattingly took some time on Monday to remember his former teammate. The two played together on the Yankees in 1982 and again from 1986 to 1989.
“Tommy obviously was really a great person as far as the way he treated people,” Mattingly said. “Playing with him was interesting because it was obviously towards the end of his career, but just the competitiveness of him and the way he went about it.”
Mattingly played with John after he underwent the eponymous surgery to reconstruct his torn UCL in 1974, a revolutionary procedure invented and performed by Dodgers doctor Frank Jobe. He became the first MLB player to return from elbow reconstruction surgery and played for 14 more years, pitching to a 3.34 career ERA and 2,245 career strikeouts.
“Tommy is one of those guys from Indiana. We always talked about Indiana,” said Mattingly, an Evansville native. “It’s close, actually; Terre Haute’s like 100 miles away. A lot of time in my youth is going there to play basketball tournaments, baseball tournaments, things like that.”
Mattingly also remembered a moment from a spring training game one year in West Palm Beach.
“I forgot, but I think it was Joe Hesketh pitching against [us] this spring training,” Mattingly said. “Tommy was pitching, so he had to hit, and he was just shoving it on us the whole time.
“And Tommy gets up and hits a two-iron off the wall in left-center. And I’m like, ‘Jesus!’ He made it look easy.”
Turner returns
Trea Turner was back in the Phillies lineup Monday after sitting out Sunday’s series finale in Minnesota. He was confident he had avoided major injury after fouling a pitch off his upper right leg on Saturday, but the Phillies didn’t want to take any chances with the shortstop and held him out. One of Turner’s best assets at the top of the Phillies lineup is his speed, which ranks in the 98th percentile of the sport.
But on Monday, Turner was back to full go. He was back in the No. 2 spot in the order, which has been Turner’s customary place in the lineup since the club acquired Luis Arraez at the trade deadline.
“I think he’s 100 [percent],” Mattingly said. “I’m sure he’s got some soreness to touch in areas, but that’s something at this point in the year that shouldn’t slow anybody down. Probably more bruised than injury.”
Bryce Harper was in the lineup in right field for the sixth consecutive game. Mattingly said he feels comfortable running Harper out as the everyday right fielder so long as his medicals allow it. He said Harper’s left knee “has been fine.”
Harper has been dealing with soreness in his knee that was aggravated by his return to the outfield, but the issue has not risen to the point where Harper needed a day off entirely.
Extra bases
Caleb Kilian (left oblique strain) is “starting to feel better” and moving around, but is still not throwing yet. Mattingly said Kilian is expected to possibly be available to return by the end of the season. … Rafael Marchán (left knee patellar tendinitis) is continuing to build up on his rehab assignment for triple-A Lehigh Valley and is scheduled to play nine innings on Tuesday … Zack Wheeler (10-4, 2.89 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday. Miami’s starting pitcher has not yet been announced.
Tony Gwynn Jr. is a former major league outfielder and son of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Over the last two years, he got to know new Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez, whose contact skills at the plate often draw comparisons to Gwynn. Tony Jr. joined Phillies Extra to discuss his father, Arraez, and the bonds that connect them. Watch here.
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