Padres All-Star Was Almost Forced Into Retirement Due to Injuries

San Diego Padres All-Star relief pitcher Jason Adam revealed he nearly retired due to injuries, and spoke about his struggles dealing with them.

Adam had four surgeries on his throwing elbow before even making it to the big leagues, and nearly retired after the third one.

"I remember I’d had three surgeries, and this was the closest I’d been (to playing again)," said Adam. "I was throwing rehab outings in Florida and I was pitching and I felt that same pop in my elbow, and I was like, ‘No way.’ I went home to my wife (Kelsey) and I opened the door. She’s all excited, because this is one of my last outings before I’m escaping rehab. And she’s like (excitedly), ‘How was it?’ And I just started crying. I was like, ‘No good.’ At that point I was crying because I don’t know if I’m ever going to play again. This just can’t get right. That was probably the lowest of lows.

Adam missed both the 2015 and 2016 seasons with injury, and joined the Padres organization midway through the 2017 season. He changed his delivery with the Padres before they released him. He rejoined the team which drafted him, the Kansas City Royals, and eventually made his MLB debut there.

"So after that moment where I came home crying, I was just like, ‘Am I even supposed to be playing?’ I asked that.," said Adam. "I just prayed every day, like, ‘God, do you want me to be playing this game?’  At first it was like, ‘I really want this.’ And I eventually got to the point where I’m like, ‘I don’t even care anymore. Like, ‘Do you want me to play or do you not want me to play? Please make it clear.’ And so it brought me to my knees of total surrender. Like I’m working hard, I’m trying to do everything I can, and it’s obviously out of my control. And then I got total peace about trying to keep playing, so I just stuck with it. My wife, she’s a saint. She stuck with me. She’s like, ‘Yeah, if that’s what you believe you’re supposed to do right now.’ And I did, and God kept opening doors that I really didn’t deserve. So we just kept riding the wave."

Adam has put together a successful MLB career due to his resilience, and will join the NL All-Star team in Atlanta on Tuesday. He has made 74 appearances since coming to the Padres in the middle of last season, and has a collective 1.45 ERA since coming to San Diego.

The right-hander is a huge part of the Friars' success this season, and will hope to continue to crank out results as the Padres look for a second consecutive postseason appearance.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.