Gamecock baseball commit sidelined after shoulder surgery

South Carolina baseball commitment Jake Wright will miss the remainder of his senior season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery Tuesday.

Wright, a 2016 left handed pitcher from Chester High School, had a bone spur in a shoulder that caused an abrasion requiring surgery, he said.

He first noticed it during winter workouts and the injury eventually evolved into something worthy of being checked out.

“I felt a little pinching in the back of my shoulder and I thought it was just me getting my arm back in shape and figured it’d go away,” he said. “I threw our first scrimmage against Rock Hill and my velocity was fine, but it was still hurting a little bit. I threw another game against Clover and it started hurting a little bit worse. So I told my parents ‘We got to get this checked out.’”

After initially feeling pain, Wright went to a doctor who ruled him out of pitching for four weeks. During that span he played first base and designated hitter. Wright could not play his secondary position in the outfield during the four weeks.

When the timeframe was up, he tried pitching again but there was still pain. That’s when he went to a specialist in North Carolina to have the procedure done.

“He did a good job and cleaned up some stuff inside my shoulder,” he said. “It was a really minor surgery. They called it an abrasion. They just cleaned up my rotator cuff.”

The surgery is minimally invasive and is usually done using a small tube-like instrument to clean up damaged muscles or tendons.

Wright had the procedure done Tuesday and will be begin a throwing regiment in three to four months, which is roughly July or August. He starts rehab Friday.

“When I first heard surgery, my stomach dropped. But it really didn’t surprise me because I knew something was wrong with my shoulder,” he said. “So I really wanted to get it fixed; I’d do anything to be fixed for South Carolina. I talked to Coach Esposito and he said to get the surgery done as soon as possible that way you’ll be good for the fall and you can show us what you got.’”

Wright said he won’t be 100 percent until September when South Carolina begins its fall practices. He said his arm feels great and “a whole lot more stable” after Tuesday’s surgery and he’s optimistic and determined to come back better and stronger than he was before the season started.

Support for Wright went on Twitter Wednesday when fellow lefty pitcher and Gamecock commitment John Gilreath posted a photo of Wright with a caption asking followers to "continue to pray for him and his recovery!"

“I feel like I’ll be perfectly fine,” he said. “I feel like I’ll come back even stronger than what I was before. I was having to hold back a little on the mound with my velocity so hopefully I’ll comeback and throw a little harder.”