March 9.
That was the day Matt Carasiti went under the knife -- enduring Tommy John surgery after suffering the first injury of his baseball-playing life while pitching in a spring training game for San Francisco Giants.
Two-hundred and 32 days later, he was agreeing to play for a team he had only dreamed up suiting up for: the Red Sox.
It seemed like a pipe dream, especially when looking back at his refusal to play for the Yankees in his friends' backyard Boston vs. New York Wiffleball showdowns. The notion didn't get any more realistic while living his professional life a country away in places like Seattle, Colorado and San Francisco. And it certainly didn't appear like a possibility when trying to navigate his way through rehab for the past 10 months.
But here he is. Twenty-nine years old and ready to take his best shot at making the Red Sox while riding a minor-league contract. And he's doing it while throwing 95 mph with an elbow ligament that wasn't supposed to work like this for at least a few more months.
"It's a pretty cool feeling," said a clearly enthused Carasiti via phone Wednesday afternoon. "I mean I didn't think I'd be playing for the Red Sox."
The Connecticut native added, "You know I really wanted I wanted to sign with the Red Sox before they even came. I mean that was just in my head as the perfect scenario."
It was Jan. 15 when Red Sox scout Steve Langone joined representatives from the Reds and Phillies to watch Carasiti -- the owner of 30 big league outings (5 starts) -- at Swanson Baseball in the pitcher's hometown of Berlin, Conn. Five days earlier it was five other clubs.
What they saw couldn't have been expected.
"I've been up to 95 (mph) in my bullpens, which is, I mean, for me I never used to throw over 90 in a bullpen. I've never done that in my life," he explained. "I've been feeling pretty good. I don't know if it's if it's the surgery, giving me a new elbow, or if it's my new arm action. But I've been feeling pretty dialed in."
It's not as though Carasiti hadn't shown big league stuff before. The former sixth-round pick made his major league debut with Colorado in 2016 before pitching for two seasons in Japan. And in 2019 the righty made 11 appearances before signing on with the Giants for last season.
The St. John's University product had his moments, like that at-bat against Albert Pujols.
"He was who I liked when I was growing up. He was like my hitting idol, like the guy I worshiped hitting-wise," Carasiti said. "I remember I threw him a first pitch forkball and he swung and missed by probably, I mean, it must have been a couple feet. He looked out at the end, kind of nodded his head and smiled. I was like, 'Whoa, that was pretty, that was pretty cool!' And then I threw him another one and he hit it to the left field, almost out of the park. That would have been a bad ending to that."
Now there is this. The 10-month story maybe only he saw coming.
"I'm kind of a like an obsessive person when it comes to like doing certain things, so I knew all I really had to do was rehab and get my arm ready. So that's all I did," Carasiti said. "I mean i worked out. I did my arm care. I went to physical therapy. And then when I could start throwing ... It's all I thought about it. Every day. It was in my head the whole time. The moment that I got surgery, it was like, 'OK, you know they say 12 to 16 months or whatever. I want to I want to be able to sign with a team in the winter. I want to be able to throw well enough to get signed and be strong enough to show that I can pitch.' So that was my mindset. Just be ready by the winter, to get a job to go to spring training."
For Red Sox fans, it should be a heartening situation.
For one, it is a pitcher with major league experience who has seemingly found a new lease on life.
"I basically just revamped my whole arm, the way I throw everything about it," Carasiti said. "I shortened my arm up and everything and it just kind of skyrocketed from there. We were like, 'Wow, I think we you know we might have something here.'"
Then there is the road he has paved for others who happened to also undergo Tommy John surgery last March, such as ... let's just say ... Chris Sale.
Sale underwent his operation March 29, with the idea that his return would probably land somewhere in May or June. That still might be the case. But examples like the one offered by Carasiti should siphon at least a little excitement.
"I think just having that mindset knowing that I needed to really not take any days for granted ... I worked my butt off to do what I'm doing now and, obviously, was lucky enough to have it pay off," he explained. "But I don't think I don't think Tommy John is as big of a death sentence as it used to be. It's definitely not fun. The rehab is not fun and it's boring. But (Sale) will be fine. I mean he's a big-leaguer. He knows what to do. He knows how to work. Obviously, we need him back because he's the leader of the pitchers. So I think it'll be good."
So far, so good.