J.P. Feyereisen Hoping For Mid-September Return to Rays' Bullpen
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — J.P. Feyereisen was having a year for the ages for the first two months of the Tampa Bay Rays' 2022 season. The right-handed reliever from River Falls, Wis., had pitched in 22 games, covering 24 1/3 innings, and hadn't allowed a single run.
Not one.
He was completely dominant, giving up only seven hits and posting a 4-0 record. He was so dominant — right up until his shoulder hurt so bad that he couldn't even throw a baseball any more.
Feyereisen pitched his last game on June 2, and then was sent to the injured list with a rare bone bruise and impingement in his shoulder. It was so bad that he literally had to shut down completely for two months and is just now getting back to throwing.
"Everybody that explained it to me, my shoulder was not being held tight enough by the muscles around it and the bones kept hitting each other,'' Feyereisen said Friday in the Rays' dugout at Tropicana Field. "It was basically a nail and a hammer, and I kept tapping it on every pitch. Just kept tapping, and sooner or later it gets pounded all the way in and you can't do any more.''
Feyereisen has had multiple MRIs and has seen specialists in both Florida and Wisconsin. They've all worked on moving things around in his shoulder and getting everything back where it belongs. He took some time off during the All-Star break to go home to Wisconsin, and since returning has been hoping to get back with his teammates soon.
"I went home for a little bit and saw a couple of guys up there, some specialists that kind of helped me out and we moved some things around in my arm and worked on different muscles to move them around,'' he said. "Since I've been back here, we've been crushing it.
"When I got back from the All-Star break, I started feeling good and that's when we went and got the MRI to see if everything looked good and like a shoulder should. It's tough, because with a new injury, there's no set plan. You just have to keep moving forward, basically. There are certain things you have to work through. Bone bruise, the doctor in Cocoa said it was only the second time ever that he's seen something like that, a bone bruise in the shoulder. It doesn't happen too often.''
Feyereisen has been throwing again and will get in a bullpen session this weekend. If all goes well, he'll do a little more next week. He would like to be back playing games with the Rays by mid-September.
He hates not being a part of this pennant race.
"Right now, my soreness comes from just taking two months off of throwing. I don't think I've ever done that before,'' Feyereisen said. "That's the longest time off I've ever taken. Just building my arm strength back up now, and hopefully we're through the thick of it and I can get back on the bump.
"I hope so, that's the main goal (coming back this season). The way we're playing right now, I want to be a part of it. That's the No. 1 goal. Chances? I don't know what the odds are, but I think we're looking good as long as everything else keeps going smooth.''
Feyereisen also knows he can't push the rehab too fast, though. He has to give it the proper amount of time.
"That's one thing, too, is I don't want to rush back and re-injure it or irritate it again,'' he said. "They're letting me take the reins about how I feel each day. It's a lot of back-and-forth talk about how I feel each day.
''Mid-September might be the goal. We had a goal of early September, but I think mid-September is probably (more realistic) to get me comfortable and get me some time in Durham.''
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.