Drey Jameson says 2025 debut after Tommy John recovery was more special than MLB debut

When Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Drey Jameson threw eight pitches in the 11th inning to earn a save and beat the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, it was his first time on the mound in a major league game in nearly 700 days.

It’s no shock that he says this call-up was even more special than when he made his major league debut, considering how much his legs were shaking when he made his Cactus League debut during spring training.

“A lot more, I wouldn’t even say a little,” Jameson told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Tuesday. “I wasn’t throwing a ball for a pretty long time and to be able to come back, have the feel and then having the front office and (manager Torey Lovullo) and them believe in me to give me that call and especially give me the ball in the 11th inning was huge for me.

“With an injury like that, you never know if you’re gonna actually come back. I know, like, the percentage is high, but there’s still that percentage that you might not recover.”

Jameson’s 2023 season was derailed by a UCL strain, and he underwent Tommy John surgery a few months later. He finished the campaign with two earned runs allowed over his final five games (12.1 innings pitched). He posted a 3.32 ERA over 15 games in the season.

It’s the aspect of getting back to where he had once reached that made the return so special, he said.

Jameson said the arm feels good with some time removed from the save, which wasn’t the case with his first appearance down in Triple-A.

“Early on, my first outing in Reno, I had a little scare,” the reliever said. “But I think it was just cold and I hadn’t had any pain through the whole time of Tommy John (recovery), and it was, you know, a little soreness, a little tightness. So it scared me a little bit.

“But after we cleared it and everything was good, then you now, I took off and I started running with it.”

What did Drey Jameson work on honing while recovering?

Jameson has a four-seam fastball that can be lethal at times, averaging 98.4 mph while reaching as high as 101 mph like he did against Shohei Ohtani in Cactus League play.

With that in his back pocket, he said he’s been working on the off-speed pitches to have a greater control of the strike zone.

“Understanding quick outs are great. Strikeouts are great too, but at the same time like quick outs are good,” Jameson said. “So stay in the zone and challenge these guys. Don’t put it right down the middle, but go around.

“I think the pitcher that I am now is I’m able to actually pitch instead of just throw. … I can kind of put it in place. I can’t be precise. I’m not saying that I’m nails, but I can put in the general idea of the areas I want to throw it.”

Lovullo also mentioned the balance between pitching and “chucking the baseball” as an important task for Jameson and one that he’s up for.

Torey Lovullo calls Drey Jameson a "fighter" and a "survivor" for how he has battled back from Tommy John surgery, getting the save in extras in his return to the field on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/i01kpEg0NB

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) April 22, 2025

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