TAMPA, Fla –J.P. Gates threw his glove in frustration, but couldn’t feel himself throwing it.
It was 2021, and he had torn his ulnar collateral ligament after appearing in only four games his junior year with the University of Miami Hurricanes.
After practice Wednesday at the University of Tampa Baseball Field, he spoke about the toll that injury takes. “I wouldn’t put that on anybody ever,” he said. “I lost feeling in my entire (arm), I could flick my finger … as many times as I want, and I wouldn’t feel nothing.”
Gates, 24, is a two-way player, proficient in both pitching and hitting.
He started his career in 2019 in Miami, played last season in Valdosta State, and now a Spartan, he primarily plays first base and designated hitter.
Asked what surgical procedure he underwent, Gates replied “Tommy John surgery” as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the scar running across his elbow. “She’s a beauty.”
Recovery from the operation required an arduous 13-month rehabilitation process. Gates had to undergo it in relative isolation, spending the entire summer in Miami with a trainer and one other teammate who was also rehabbing.
“It was very difficult for me to get my extension back … I had to relearn to grab things,” he said. “You have to relearn how to extend your arm again.”
Now Gates is contributing on offence for a Spartans team that just won 17 straight games to start the season, setting a program record.
The team doesn’t allow itself to get lost in the hype of that achievement, he said.
“I mean, honestly, if you came out to a practice you would never know. We show up every day wanting to get better,” Gates said.
The streak ended with a loss to the Seton Hill University Griffins on March 4, but that isn’t affecting the Spartans’ mindset.
“We show up, we want to play baseball,” he said. “We want to beat the next team by as many runs as possible. It’s not about the record. The idea of going undefeated is crazy to think of, and I mean that loss definitely hurt, but it’s all about going forward.”
The loss isn’t taking away from the accomplishment, either.
“The 17 games was unlike anything you ever dream of,” he added.
Gates is in his sixth and final year of college baseball, missing a year due to COVID-19 and receiving a medical redshirt the year he had Tommy John surgery.
What comes next for the 2023 D2CCA All-American is still up in the air, but he would like to use his baseball experience and bachelor’s degree in sports management to land a job in the sport.
“I’m trying to find anything that keeps me within the game, man, whether it’s coaching, agent, anything,” Gates said. “I’ve been doing coaching and stuff like that since I was 12, 13 years old.”
He was the first player from his high school, Nature Coast Technical, in his hometown of Brooksville, Fla., to play Division 1 baseball.
He said it is important to set a good example for the younger generation of ballplayers, including his brother Jaxen.
“I have a little brother who’s 19 right now. … I’ve always been around at his tournaments and stuff like that, helping them, teaching them, the kids who are freshmen in high school, and I’m in college, I’m teaching them what I’m learning, and the information I’m gathering I’m giving to them, to have them better be prepared not only as college students but as men. This sport teaches you to be a man.”
As Gates’s time as a player comes to an end, his team has only one goal in mind.
“We’re all trying to win a ring,” he said. “We don’t even talk about it, we know.”