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baseball Edit

Arkansas freshman RHP dealing with shoulder injury

Tyler Cacciatori pitches in the 2019 Class 5A state championship game at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Tyler Cacciatori pitches in the 2019 Class 5A state championship game at Baum-Walker Stadium. (Andrew Hutchinson)

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Tyler Cacciatori, a member of Arkansas’ touted 2020 signing class, is dealing with a shoulder injury and will be limited when the baseball team starts practice this fall.

The right-handed pitcher from Sheridan has a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, but is taking the non-surgical route in an effort to still be able to pitch for the Razorbacks as a freshman in 2021, he told HawgBeat.

“Surgery was an option, but they’re not too sure if it’s torn bad enough to need surgery,” Cacciatori said. “So we’re being more conservative until we have to get surgery.”

Instead of surgery, Cacciatori said he recently had some PRP therapy injections that will hopefully help heal the shoulder. He’ll rehab for 4-5 weeks before starting a throwing program.

Assuming fall ball isn’t completely eliminated or altered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the plan is for Cacciatori to return to practice at some point in the fall and get to face live batters in a few innings.

If he requires surgery, he would be forced to redshirt his first year with the Razorbacks, but as of right now, Cacciatori said he “definitely” expects to pitch as a true freshman.

The injury first flared up earlier this summer. He noticed the front of his shoulder hurt and his velocity dropped a little in one of his starts, which he found “a bit weird,” but he took a week off and hoped the rest would help. Although he was still throwing about 90 miles per hour his next time out, Cacciatori said his arm was really tired afterward.

“My arm kind of started bothering me, so I thought I should get it checked out before college,” Cacciatori said. “It turned out to be a bit worse than I expected.”

Arkansas fans have seen in recent years just how devastating it can be for baseball players to suffer injuries to their throwing shoulder.

After both required offseason surgery to repair torn labrums, Trevor Ezell was forced to move from second to first base in his lone season with the Razorbacks and Matt Goodheart is expected to make a similar move next season.

It’s particularly hard for pitchers to return from, as in-state products Hunter Milligan and Harrison Heffley have each experienced. Even if a pitcher makes a full recovery from surgery, there’s no guarantee his velocity will be the same as before.

That’s what happened to Heffley, who is now attempting a comeback as a Division II outfielder. Luckily for Cacciatori, he’s avoiding surgery for now, but he said he feels good about it if it’s ultimately needed.

“I feel confident that I’d be able to come back just because the work ethic and effort I put forth to baseball,” Cacciatori said. “But you never know what happens with surgery, so you have to be lucky at the same time.”

Despite not being able to pitch, the injury didn’t keep Cacciatori from continuing to hit and play first base for Sheridan’s American Legion team this summer. He said he was “a bit more sore” than usual, but he has a full range of motion.

Being limited this fall, though, is pretty disappointing to one of the most productive pitchers in Arkansas the last few years. Not as heralded as fellow in-state signees Markevian “Tink” Hence (Watson Chapel) and Nick Griffin (Monticello), Cacciatori was the MVP of last year’s Class 5A state championship game.

He struck out 10 while scattering four hits and one walk across 6 1/3 scoreless innings of the Yellowjackets’ 2-0 win over Benton. That capped a junior season in which he went 8-1 with a 1.24 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 51 innings.

“It was really upsetting for me because I expected to go and show out, just like what every other freshman thinks,” Cacciatori said. “So to have to go up there and sit out a couple of months, I’m kind of down about that, but at the same time, I know I have the best facilities in the country to work at and I’m confident that I’ll be able to make a good recovery.”

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