Get To Know: Q&A with Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson

The Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak caught up with Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jimmy Nelson to discuss his work ethic, his personality and his shoulder surgery. Nelson, 28, had a breakout season in 2017 when he went 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts while striking out 199 batters in 175 1/3 innings. He suffered a devastating injury to his right shoulder while diving into first base after singling against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 8, then underwent an extensive operation 11 days later to repair the damage. He’s currently on the 60-day disabled list as he rehabilitates and is expected to return to action at some point this season. Nelson was drafted by the Brewers out of the University of Alabama in the second round in 2010, and he is playing on a one-year deal that’s paying him $3.7 million.

Q. It’s noon, you’re still a long ways from pitching and you’re at the ballpark. That’s just you, isn’t it?

A. It’s kind of like my peaceful time. Get in here and get my mind right. You need your space. You need to be alone. I think it’s healthy to have some alone time every day – just for your head and especially in this sport. For me, I’m productive at the same time. I’ll do video or I’ll break down my last start or I’ll start scouting hitters for my next start. Just basically do my own scouting reports. But being by myself, not being bothered – it is kind of therapeutic in a way. But we’re kind of doing our homework at the same time.

Q. Have you always been like that?

A. As a kid, as soon as something was assigned to me I had to get it done and complete it 100% because I knew if I’d procrastinate I’d forget about it. I was never someone that procrastinated. I was never somebody that was late to anything. I was always early. If anything, probably too early.

Q. Where did you learn your work ethic?

A. It’s something I take pride in, for sure. It’s something that I think was a main contributor to getting me to the big leagues. I was kind of that way when I was younger. When I got to high school, my freshman, sophomore year, it kind of clicked. A switch kind of flipped in me and I realized my potential and so I just went at it 100% from that point on. It was my No. 1 priority. I committed a lot of time to it. Even in high school, when kids were doing stuff on the weekends or whatever, I’d be up at the baseball field working out or doing pitching-related stuff. It was something I always loved to do. I loved the work. Then once I got to college at Alabama, it really just kind of magnified those values because they’re values that they really believe in there as well. Alabama is really blue-collar, a get-what-you-work-for kind of deal. It really made that work ethic more concrete. I grew up a lot there. Then in the minor leagues, I started learning more and more each year and how to make it more baseball-specific and tailor my routine to the rotation. Ever since then it’s just been kind of fine-tuning stuff. But it was a lot of mental stuff in college. A lot of mental strength and mental conditioning-type stuff as well. When it comes to work ethic one of the things I believe and tell people is that at the end of my career I want to be able to look in the mirror and honestly say to myself that I did everything I could physically and mentally to become the best player and teammate possible. One of the worst feelings in my opinion would be having to live with the regret of knowing that you didn't do everything you could to maximize this small window of opportunity.

Q. Learning and perfecting a routine is an evolving process, isn’t it?

A. Yeah, and even from week to week. Being in pro ball early on in the minor leagues, the knock on me was I would actually work too hard and do too much stuff. They thought that it was detrimental, a diminishing-return type thing. I had to learn when to take recovery weeks and how to take recovery weeks. Because once you program your mind to just work all day every day you honestly have to teach yourself how to relax, as crazy as it sounds. You get comfortable working all day, every day when you do it for so long. Funny story: Last off-season my wife and I went on vacation-slash-honeymoon in Cabo, and it was the first vacation I’d been on since I was 10 years old. I remember the first two days, I didn’t know what to do. I had to literally teach myself how to vacation. It becomes just a part of your genetic code, really. I’ve had to learn when to pull back on the throttle just to stay fresh through this long season. Our strength and conditioning staff and our medical staff do a really good job of that as well. I’m always wearing those guys out. I’m always in their ears about different stuff, different ideas, different techniques. Different stuff just to get stronger throughout the season but stay fresh at the same time.

Q. Did you finally learn how to relax on your vacation?

A. I finally figured it out after a couple days. It was pretty crazy because I was anxious. I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do. I’m not doing anything. I don’t know what to do.’ My wife was just kind of rolling her eyes out by the pool like, ‘Come on. Everyone knows how to relax.’

Q. You’re admittedly an intense guy and can come across as intimidating at the ballpark at times. Are you like that 24-7, or are you a different person when you’re not in baseball mode?

A. It seems like a lot of times at the field, when you guys are here and I’m kind of in my zone or I’ve got my headphones on, I have a lot of work to do each day and that’s my priority. I always focus in on getting that stuff done and getting it done the right way. But as soon as I’m done with my work, I’m a pretty easygoing guy. I like to think I have some humor with the guys here in the clubhouse. I’ve gotten comfortable over the last year or two with the guys in this clubhouse and the role I can play for these guys. Even now, when I’m not healthy, I like to think I can help out some of the starters. But in my downtime – not counting this off-season – I’m normally a big homebody. I like to chill, go to movies. I like to play video games. My wife and I just started building a house this off-season in Houston, so we’ve been dealing with a lot of that stuff as well. It’s funny because it’s actually only a mile or so from where (Matt) Albers lives. I’m not a big golfer or anything. I’m usually so physically and mentally drained when I’m done with my work for the day, I like to do things that are pretty laid-back. I’m very easygoing even though I’m intense at the field and in my work and my preparation. I like to joke around a lot, throw out little funny one-liners. In the clubhouse I won’t be a main contributor to the conversation, but I’ll be listening and I’ll throw in a jab, a little one-liner. I’m kind of like the dynamite drop-in guy. But you can ask all those guys – I’m not a jerk by any means.

Q. You also do a lot of your off-season training in the Houston area, don’t you?

A. That facility, I’ve been training there for like six years now and it’s been a huge key to my success as well, those guys out there at Texas Sports Medicine. Those guys don’t get much credit, but there’s a lot of hours that go into the off-season with those guys. They always stick their neck out for me and I appreciate what they’ve done for me. I started the rehab throwing with those guys. (Brewers head athletic trainer) Dan (Wright) came out and got to check out the facility and checked up on me and got to meet Joe Loria, John Trejo and Dennis Fay, my guys that train me in the off-season and are responsible for the throwing program and all the arm-care stuff. Dan got a good feel for it. Our Brewers medical and strength and conditioning staffs have also helped immensely throughout the process. You want to make the off-season as hard as possible so the season is easy. We’ve had a good number of guys out there working out. (Michael) Wacha, Shelby Miller, (Andrew) Cashner have come through there. It’s not a lot of eye wash. One reason I think I fell in love with it is because it’s a get-after-it thing. There’s not a bunch of brand-new equipment that you never use but they’re going to charge you $2,000 a month to train there. Those guys don’t care about the money – they care about actually working with the athletes themselves.

Q. How far along are you in your recovery from the shoulder surgery?

A. It’s tough for me to put a percentage on it. I haven’t had a radar gun on me or anything. I’ve been throwing from 120 feet for a week-plus now and really the only thing I can judge it off of now is how the ball is coming out, the trajectory of the ball and how it feels to me physically. Over the last couple weeks my arm action has started to become a lot more natural and it’s starting to look more like my actual delivery whereas the first month and a half when I’d throw it would seem kind of stiff and robotic almost, not really smooth. But that's kind of part of it, loosening up those repairs in the shoulder actively. You can stretch as much as you want, but you’re not going to get that full range of motion until you keep throwing. The plan for next week is 150 feet, which is big. I like to long-toss a lot, so for me the 150 mark is going to require me to put significantly more effort into my throws. So the way that my arm responds to that is going to be a big checkpoint, basically. Then close to two weeks from (April 5) is tentatively when we plan to throw off the mound, as long as everything else fits into place and goes well. Then once we get off the bump it’s going to be a pretty simplistic approach from there. But we honestly haven’t talked about it. On my paper printout for my throwing program, we don’t have anything filled out beyond the next two weeks. I only know what I’m doing the next 14 days. After that, it’s blank. So I guess we’re going to see where I’m at next week or the week after that and then kind of fill everything out from there. I saw something the other day saying, ‘He’s on schedule.’ Well, it’s tough to say on schedule because I’ve been 2-3 months ahead of schedule for the last 2-3 months. Yeah, I’m on schedule for where I’m at. But in the grand scheme of things I’m 2-3 months ahead of schedule altogether. There’s no real rush right now. As long as I don’t do anything stupid where I have a big setback, then we’re good. Even if this process seems slow and arduous, I’m still going to be back well before I normally would with this situation. There were three repairs that were done that are normally a year each with rehab and recovery. I’m excited to get back healthy and get back on the bump.

Q. Can you detail exactly what the damage was?

A. When I slid, the shoulder dislocated out of place until I stood up, and then it popped back in. They had to get all the debris out of there; because of the dislocation there was some debris floating around in there. Then they had to repair the labrum in the front, the posterior capsule in the back and the rotator cuff. That’s three repairs. The two things that helped me was it was from sliding and not a chronic throwing injury, and where the labrum was torn and repaired was in the front and not the back. The posterior labrum was healthy. But the capsule and the rotator cuff had to be repaired as well. Dr. (Neal) ElAttrache did a good job with the procedure. When you look at the grand scheme of things, that was three pretty significant repairs that are about a year apiece. Obviously it’s not going to be a three-year process; we knock these all out at the same time. What I’m saying is where we’re at – seven months out – we’re 2 ½ months into a throwing program. A lot of that is because of this off-season. I was putting in 10- to 12-hour days every day this off-season. I mean, it was pretty absurd, the stuff I was doing. My main goal is to come back better than what I was. There’s many things that I’ve added into my routine and for everything I add to my routine, I get stronger and more stable, more mobile. And anything I added to strengthen myself or strain my body I have to add something in for recovery as well. So this off-season was basically 5:30-6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every single day. It was a very strenuous off-season. But without the things that I did, I wouldn’t be this far ahead. My faith has played a big role as well. I believe that God will never give me an obstacle or test that I cannot overcome, whether it be physical, mental or both. James 1:2-4 is one of my favorite verses to refer back to about trials and tribulations.

Q. It's human nature to second-guess yourself. Have you been able to keep from re-living that decision to dive back into first base at Wrigley Field?

A. I think from the jump I’ve dealt with that pretty well. Right after it happened, I convinced myself in my head it was a normal baseball play. It was just instinct, you know? The Cubs infielders are very good at throwing behind runners and getting that extra out. So when I was caught that far off I had no doubt in my mind that was going to be the case. So I felt like it was necessary to slide right there, and it was just instinct. It’s kind of like when someone throws something at you – you don’t think about how you catch it; you just do it. You’re in the kitchen, you drop something, you don’t think about the way you catch it before you go to catch it; you just do it. But it was tough. And the last 2-3 months of the season I was dealing with plantar fasciitis in the bottom of my foot. I’m already slow as hell. When you add that on top of it, that doesn’t help, you know what I mean? So coming out of the box, rounding the base, running, pushing off the rubber – anytime I had to push off that right foot I would feel it and it would be really painful. It’s all taken care of now. That was one of the first things I took care of this off-season when I got back home to Texas. Our medical staff did a good job of working with me and I basically rested it and knocked it out. It’s been good since. It was just tough at the time because we were in the playoff race, and I really needed to rest it. But in the moment, I’m just going to keep going out there and competing. I knew what my limitations were with it. So fast-forward to that hit in Chicago – that should have been an easy double. But at that point I wasn’t exactly swift getting out of the box or down the line.

Q. So how were you able to go back out and pitch another inning after injuring your shoulder like that? Adrenaline?

A. I basically just ran into the dugout and grabbed my glove and hat and I told myself during the warmup pitches, ‘All right, you’ve got to use your legs, your core and your body as well as you can to take the pressure off your arm. Don’t use your arm. Just use your legs and your body.’ So that’s what I was trying to do in my warmup throws and it just felt really, really weird. It was a 1-0 game against the Cubs in the playoff race. But you’re in the fifth inning and as a starter usually the adrenaline you have the first inning or two kind of wears down. Then once you get into the seventh, eighth, ninth inning – that’s when that kind of second-wind adrenaline kicks in. You just kind of empty the tank. But at every level – high school, college – I’ve learned how to deal with a lot of pain. You learn how to play through a lot of aches and pains in this game or you’re not going to make it very far. It’s very simple. You’re not going to feel good 100 percent of the time. You’re lucky if you feel good half the time. So it’s something you have to learn to deal with. Some people can’t do it. Some people mentally just can’t deal with the pain. There’s things I went through at Alabama that show you mentally how to get over those types of things. Some of things I did there I look back on and have no idea how I did them. Well, you get it in your mind that you can do certain things no matter how you feel physically and you really surprise yourself. It’s one of those unexplained things, but I think there’s another level mentally that you can unlock a lot of things physically. A lot of times guys play through aches and pains – whether it’s minor or major – and people don’t know, because it’s just a part of our job and a part of why we get paid nicely. We have to physically put up with stuff year-round that a lot of people don’t have to put up with.

Q. How do you think this is all going to turn out?

A. I’m saying it genuinely – I feel like there’s a good chance I’ll come back better because of all the stuff that I’ve been doing. It’s hard to really explain the mental gear that I got into this year to put in work and the rehab and the recovery – just everything I put in this off-season. Obviously I couldn’t have done any of that without my wife, Melissa. She had to put up with all this stuff as well. Could you imagine your wife only seeing you for a couple hours a day in the off-season? That’s normal during the season. But she realized this was what I have to do. She knows who I am, ‘He’s going to do this no matter what and no matter how mad I get.’ So instead of her fighting it, she helped me throughout the whole process and that definitely made things a little bit easier on me mentally. That’s what your partner’s supposed to do. But this journey has been crazy and she said one thing to me that really, really struck me throughout this whole process. I’ve always considered myself a very motivated person that stays on the right track, but there have been times this off-season where I’d think, ‘Why me? Why did this happen to me? I’ve done all the right things off the field, on the field. I’ve done my best to be a good teammate.’ It’s hard not to think about it when I’ve done all these things the right way, so why would something this unlucky happen to me? It was a similar situation in 2015 when I got hit in the head with the line drive. But that was only a couple weeks, so that was very minor compared to this. She said, ‘You thought your story was going to be you came up, you struggled for a couple years, you got better and you figured it out and you were locked in for the rest of your career.’ But she was like, ‘I think this is your story. There’s certain guys in the big leagues who come up and deal since Day 1. There’s guys that come up, struggle, get sent back down and then they come back up as a totally different person. What if your story is you had this injury, and you actually came back from it stronger because of who you are and what you did and the way you dedicated yourself? Maybe that’s your story.’ So that kind of struck a chord with me and it convinced me that, yeah, that is my story. It’s hopefully going to be, down the road, a lesson that I can help teach anybody else on my team that gets hurt or any young guy that’s struggling. That’s really where my mindset’s at right now. I’m just trying to get back and help these guys, really.