Fairchild detours on road to majors Injury sidelines Lewiston native

This isn’t the kind of season Tip Fairchild had in mind.

The Lewiston native and Monmouth Academy graduate was well on his way up the Houston Astros’ minor league baseball ladder. The way Fairchild had it figured, if he kept progressing as he has the last couple years, this could be the year he got the call from Houston.

As it turns out, the former University of Southern Maine standout was summoned to Houston on Monday, but not to pitch in the big leagues.

Fairchild went to Houston for two days to undergo medical testing and some rehabilitation work as he continues his comeback from a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing (right) arm. He tore his UCL April 10 while making just his second start of the season for the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks.

“I knew something was wrong. I felt something snap, but I still stayed in because I thought it was a forearm cramp,” Fairchild said. “I had X-rays the next day, but they don’t show ligament damage. It loosened up, but I wasn’t throwing hard and my pitch velocity really dropped, so they did an MRI.”

That showed the tear and it was season over for Fairchild, who underwent “Tommy John” ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction/replacement surgery using a ligament from his left arm May 9.

He’s been home ever since, going through a strict rehabilitation regimen which has been testing his patience.

“I’ve never been immobilized like that before. I couldn’t do anything with either arm for two days,” said Fairchild, who wore a hard cast for 12 days and a brace ever since. “I’m rehabbing every day for four hours a day with leg lifts and cardio and range of motion exercises. I’m at 0 degrees and I’ve been able to move it all over for two weeks now. I’m starting to get a full range of motion now.”

If he continues to make steady progress and improvement, Fairchild thinks he can start throwing (long toss) in August and possibly throw off the mound in October or November. Talk about a major speed bump on the road to the majors.

“I was the fastest from my draft class to get to Double A,” said the Astros 2005 12th-round selection. “I was getting pretty close to being in the big leagues. If I’d had a decent first half this year, you never know what could have happened.”

That knowledge is almost harder for Fairchild to deal with than the rehabilitation work.

“I’m constantly thinking about what I should be doing at whatever point it is in the day or evening,” he said. “Losing a whole year is the biggest thing for me mentally. The physical part is tough too because I’m not doing what I want to do, but right now I can’t compete. I’m not competing at anything for the first time since I was 5.”

Fairchild, who was 0-1 with a 10.29 ERA in two starts this year, went a combined 14-7 with a 2.45 ERA, 142 strikeouts and 38 walks in 173 innings with low Single-A Salem and high Single-A Lexington last year.

Ironically, it was his arm’s durability that may have played a part in the injury, since he’d never thrown that many innings in a season. Still, Fairchild is optimistic his arm will emerge from all this rehab much stronger.

“Next year will probably be a rehab year, probably in Double A,” said the 23-year-old Fairchild. “But the rehab is so intense and involved, if I come back stronger like a lot of people do, I could get to the majors next year.”

If Fairchild sounds exceedingly optimistic, he has good reason. Besides his self-confidence and positive reports from doctors, he has some big-name boosters pulling for him.

“Roger Clemens called me in the hospital when I had my surgery so that was pretty cool,” he said. “And [Astros starting pitcher] Brandon Backe had this done last August and he’s coming back.”

Backe recently threw a 40-pitch session and is estimated to be two months away from coming off the disabled list.

“I talked to him before and after I had it done,” Fairchild said. “He just told me what to expect at certain points and said the biggest thing is knowing how much you can take and how much is too much. You can’t push yourself too hard and the biggest thing now is not to try to overdo things.”

The next step for Fairchild is to get the go-ahead to start upper body exercises and workouts. Sessions will likely increase from four to five or six hours a day.

Although he hasn’t been back with his Hooks teammates since the injury, he keeps in regular contact with the club.

“I talk to a lot of guys on the team, usually after the game. I talk to at least one person every day,” Fairchild said. “They keep telling me I’ll be back with them in no time.”

Of that, Fairchild has no doubt.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net