Matt Harrison’s reward is a return to Texas Rangers’ rotation

Three weeks stuck to a couch gives a man time to think, though Matt Harrison had only two options to mull as he recovered last year from yet another operation: Retire after having two vertebrae fused in his lower back or launch a heretofore unprecedented comeback.

His surgeon had told him that to pitch again could lead to chronic back pain the rest of his life. At 28 and with a wife and two young children, Harrison had a lot of living still to do.

But to not try would make living difficult, too, a lifetime with one question hovering over him.

Ultimately, Harrison never wanted to wonder, “What if … ?”

The left-hander can stop wondering Wednesday as he steps back on the mound for the Texas Rangers. Harrison doesn’t know how many starts he will make the rest of his career, but just the fact that he is making one is a handsome reward for his decision to return and all the work involved.

“I’m trying to control the emotions of what’s going to happen Wednesday,” Harrison said. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out there on that mound. What I’ve been through, I want to wait until that day to take it all in.

“I’m excited about it. I didn’t know if it was going to happen again. A lot of people didn’t, either. I guess I’m blessed to put this uniform on again and go out there and compete again.”

The Rangers were off Monday, and Harrison planned to avoid all heavy lifting, twisting and awkward bending. No need to tempt fate.

Yovani Gallardo will start Tuesday night against Arizona, and Harrison will make his first big league start since May 13, 2014. That was his fourth start after two operations to repair a herniated disk that limited him to two starts in 2013.

This surgery, though, fused the L5-S1 vertebrae. Dr. Drew Dossett, the renowned back specialist in Dallas, told Harrison about the risks of trying to resume a career that involves constantly putting strain on the lower back.

“He told me, ‘I don’t know if you should do this again,’” Harrison said. “He pretty much told me I had a 20 percent chance of coming back, and that was just getting on a mound.

“I talked about it with my wife, and we felt like I was still young enough to recover from this. I still felt like I had something left, and I wanted to give it a shot. I wasn’t ready to go home.”

Recovery from his surgery, or any back surgery, isn’t quick, but Harrison had to strengthen his core, keep weight off his midsection and get back in good cardiovascular shape without being able to run.

He couldn’t climb back onto a mound until the fusion was nearly complete. He wasn’t sure that he would make it back until after his first session of live batting practice in the spring.

Harrison had no pain the next day.

“I felt good and knew it was going to be possible,” he said.

He still had a long way to go, which included multiple starts at extended spring training and six rehab starts, the last of which was Wednesday for Triple A Round Rock. His numbers weren’t great — 1-3 with a 6.23 ERA, with slower velocity readings than before he was injured but still with good movement on his pitches — but the Rangers also recognize that he is reinventing himself on the mound after essentially not pitching for two years.

It takes Harrison 45 minutes just to stretch for each start. He tweaked his delivery in an attempt to add velocity to a fastball that has sat in the mid- to upper-80s. Only recently did he resume lifting weights and running stairs.

The Rangers also have some recent history with a pitcher making an unexpected comeback. Right-hander Colby Lewis returned last season after hip resurfacing, which is very nearly a hip replacement.

Lewis needed time until he found a workable delivery and the same command and velocity he had before he was injured.

“Colby had a drastic anatomy change, and it took Colby a while to find it,” pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “It kept getting better.”

Maddux said that he stayed optimistic that Harrison would return, banking on Harrison’s personality not allowing him to not at least try. General manager Jon Daniels admitted last week that he wasn’t sure if Harrison would ever return.

There is no precedent for a pitcher. Dallas McPherson, a former top-rated prospect, came back following the same surgery as Harrison, but he was a position player.

So, Harrison is using Lewis as his inspiration. Lewis remembers what it was like when he returned in April 2014 against Seattle. Nothing Harrison experienced in his rehab starts compares to it.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some jitters. I know I was nervous,” Lewis said. “The first time back, the adrenaline I felt like was the big thing for me, trying to harness that much adrenaline.

“You try not to do too much outside your box, which makes you good. It’s basically harnessing all those things. There’s nothing like when you put that second deck on and there’s 40,000 people sitting up there. Once you have this experience, it’s the only experience you want.”

Harrison gets that experience Wednesday.

“I don’t know what the future holds, maybe three more years or maybe the rest of this year,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know I put myself in this position and worked my tail off to get to this point. I can live with myself and look at myself in the mirror and know I did everything possible.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2015 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Matt Harrison’s reward is a return to Texas Rangers’ rotation."