Diamondbacks' Drey Jameson has Fiery Return to Mound

The long-awaited return of the righty was a successful inning.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Drey Jameson during spring training practice at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale on Feb. 13, 2025. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Wednesday, Arizona Diamondbacks right-handed reliever Drey Jameson made his long-awaited return to the mound against the Milwaukee Brewers, to overall success.

The righty hadn't pitched in any game action in over 600 days, as he worked his way back from Tommy John Surgery.

But on Wednesday, the fiery Jameson took the mound and delivered a solid inning of work, with his blistering arsenal on full display.

He entered in the second inning, facing the Brewers' 9-1-2 hitters, and immediately fired a 97.6 MPH four-seam fastball. Three pitches later, he induced a weak lineout to shortstop Jordan Lawlar.

But Jameson wasn't satisfied with 97.6 MPH. After forcing a popout, he unleashed a first-pitch fastball that registered on Statcast at 100 MPH.

Unfortunately, it was called a ball, and that ruling held up, but another 98.6 MPH fastball was returned directly to center fielder Christian Pache for the final out.

Jameson threw only 11 pitches, five for strikes, and didn't record a strikeout, but he still managed a clean inning, and his stuff looked electric - especially for his first time back in a game.

Speaking to reporters after his outing, including Diamondbacks On SI's Jack Sommers, Jameson noted the rush of getting back on the mound.

"My legs would not stop shaking. I don't know why. I don't know if it was excitement. I definitely wasn't nervous, but I don't know if it was excitement or what. But I thought it would leave after the first couple of pitches and it just stayed the whole time," Jameson said.

"I kept telling myself, I've already got the first couple pitches over, stop shaking, why is this going on? But I think I was amped up. Obviously, I haven't been on that kind of a stage in a long time. So just the jitters of just excitement and being able to do that again is I think what was going through my head at that time."

But he said he felt good overall, and was pleased with his execution of some of the stuff he's been working on out on the back fields of Salt River.

"Obviously still lots to improve on, but other than that, yeah, it was good for the first one. I'm trying to be more smooth rather than herky-jerky, just that way I can be more efficient from point A to point B," said the righty.

For a first outing, it's certainly hard to ask for much more than a 1-2-3 outing. The blazing velocity and high movement of his breaking pitches certianly don't seam to have lost much of a step.

If Jameson maintains that efficiency, and continues on an upward trajectory in his recovery, the Diamondbacks could have a serious weapon out of the bullpen in 2025.

"I wasn't really thinking baseball. It was just like, I'm glad I'm out here being able to do this again," Jameson said.

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