Travis Jankowski fractured his left wrist diving for a ball early in spring training, relegating him to the purgatory of extended spring training all year. On the plus side, that meant more date nights with his wife, Lindsey, TV show binging and time to bond with his toddler son, Bentley. One surprising twist on a long list of drawbacks (the Padres, for instance, really could use him in center field and on the bases) was a recovery protocol that did not allow Jankowski, a first-time father, to pick up his new son.

Union-Tribune: You were working out at Petco Park last weekend. That’s a good sign. How do you feel things are progressing?

Jankowski: At a very good pace now. Fourteen weeks is a long time to sit around and not play baseball, so coming back might be probably every bit of a 14- to 20-day rehab assignment. Once I get going, once I get feeling good, the swing progression goes through, I’ll go play some games once I get my timing down. The only part that really stunk is I missed all of spring training. I missed out on a lot of at-bats, but usually for me it takes 40 to 50 at-bats to really feel good with an approach and feel confident in seeing the ball. After that, hopefully I’m back here.

U-T: Did it get your juices flowing a little bit just being around the guys?


Jankowski: Definitely. Just being part of that clubhouse. There’s something special going on there. There’s no cliques. Everyone gets along. You can just tell. In the past, it’s been Andy Green’s mission to clean up the locker room and have a good clubhouse and he’s done that and it’s paying dividends now. I can’t wait to be a part of it again.

U-T: The team packs up and heads to Seattle for two exhibition games at the end of spring training. They leave you behind in Arizona. That’s a big clubhouse that’s overflowing with guys on Day 1 of spring training. What was it like to get left behind?

Jankowski: By nature, I’m a pretty positive and optimistic guy. Two of the toughest days for me is when everybody left spring training and I didn’t get to go. That was a really tough day. Then when I got to come out here for opening day and I couldn’t play. It was really tough to know that I’m in the dugout with no chance of playing. Those are two really tough days. That was tough. I probably took a day to sulk and then it was, let’s get back out there and figure something out so I can get back to playing.

U-T: The concept of extended spring training – explain what that’s like for a player stuck there when everyone else is playing on a team somewhere.


Jankowski: It’s a unique experience, I guess. Obviously the temperature only rises in Arizona and that’s the icing on the cake to make it a pretty tough atmosphere. Every single person is out playing and they have a stat line. They have something to go after. In extended spring training games, I don’t even think they keep stats. Everyone else is traveling all over. They’re with the guys on planes and bus trips and you have that team camaraderie. In extended, I don’t know how else to put it other than it’s like a kick in the stomach that you can’t go out and take pride in what you did to help a team win. It’s more so, what do I need to work on to get to a team to help them win.

U-T: Is there a Groundhog Day feel to it?

Jankowski: Every. Single. Day. Obviously with my injury, that was the toughest part to go through. For 14 weeks to do the same routine, every single day. Every week, Monday I do this, Tuesday I do this. It was really monotonous and repetitive. You try to play games with yourself. What can I do today that might be a little bit different. Instead of doing a hamstring curl, let’s do a step-up exercise. It’s tough, man. If you’re routine-oriented, which I am, it’s probably less stressful than if you’re not routine-oriented. Either way, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

U-T: The slow going is about the bone not healing fast enough. How frustrating is that?


Jankowski: It’s probably the most frustrating thing I’ve ever had to deal with. I’m feeling good two-weeks post surgery and going in to see the doctor at six weeks and him telling me the bone’s not healed enough, come back in two weeks. At eight weeks, bone’s not healed yet. Come back in two weeks. Same thing at 10 weeks. Same thing at 12 weeks. It was frustrating and then you start to think I’m doing everything in my power to try to get back to the team and the doctor says it’s not healing. What am I missing? What am I doing wrong to where my body isn’t healing? It’s a mental challenge to get through that.

U-T: On the positive side, you’re a new father. You must have at least appreciated the extra time being around the family.

Jankowski: That was the one thing I really enjoyed, but the tough part about that is I wasn’t allowed to lift anything. It was great to be around Bentley and my wife, Lindsey, all the time, but when you have newborn and all you want to do is hold him and love on him and you can’t do that, it’s like staring at a picture. He’s growing. He’s getting hair. He’s almost crawling now, but I can’t pick him up. I loved every second with him. It would have been a lot better if I could have picked him up. But the time with my wife was awesome. It helped out a lot. It’s something that us as baseball players really don’t get in the summer and spring months, so that was awesome and being around my son was a blessing. I just wish I could have picked him up.

U-T: Were there ways you tried to compensate for that?


Jankowski: It’s really tough. We’d do a little thing where my wife would be around me and I’d hold him in my right arm and cradle him a little bit. But then he’d get a little squirmy and wiggly and I’d get nervous I was going to drop him and I’d pass him off quick. There’s really nothing you can do. The one benefit is I hadn’t changed a diaper in three or four months. But now that I’m healthy and I can pick him up, it sucks leaving him now. It’s tough to leave and hand him off to my wife and go to the field. It’s funny. I missed being with the guys and now I miss being with my son. You always want what you don’t have.

U-T: Well you’re on your way back. What can you add to what’s going on here?

Jankowski: It’s getting on base. Greg Garcia has done a great job in that role. He’s a heck of a competitor in the box. He gets on base and can bounce all over the infield. Fernando Tatis Jr. came back and he’s doing a good job of getting on base and providing that spark. I would almost like to fall into their roles and be a contributor in that way. I’ve never been much of a power guy and we’ve got enough power on this team. We don’t need another power guy. … My goal is to be on first base when Hosmer hits that double into the gap, because I’m scoring on that. Really it’s providing that energy, that spark, that threat to steal a base and maybe make the pitchers worry more and then go out and track down everything in the outfield. If there’s a ball in the outfield, I’m not letting it hit the ground. That hurt me in spring a little bit – I’ve missed 14 weeks because of it – but there’s going to be no fear coming back.