Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a four-part series with former LSU players in professional sports.
BOWIE, Maryland — Life rarely goes according to plan, but for former LSU closer Nick Goody, every piece was falling into place.
In the Tigers’ 2012 regular season finale against South Carolina, Goody sealed LSU’s first Southeastern Conference title since 2009 with his 10th save of the season.
After just one season with the Tigers following a stellar 2011 campaign in junior college, Goody was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees.
Three years later, Goody would ideally be donning the pinstripes.
Instead, he finds himself playing with New York’s Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder, two years removed from Tommy John Surgery and hoping to regain his former consistency.
Despite his roller coaster minor league career, Goody remains positive and determined to achieve his lifetime goal of playing in the Major League.
“You stay the course and just know that it’s all part of the bigger picture,” Goody said. “It’s tough to do when you are going through it, but right now when I look back at it I’m like, ‘I was being tested in this situation.’”
Even at LSU, Goody was tested, not by injury, but by the expectations of the Tiger faithful.
After posting a 1.29 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 84 innings of work at the State College of Florida in 2011, Goody came into his debut season as a Tiger with the opportunity to contribute in LSU’s rotation amid questions about his ability to perform against another level of competition.
Time and time again, Goody answered critics with consistent performances in front of packed houses in Alex Box Stadium as he developed into the Tigers’ dominant closer. He finished 2012 ranked third in the SEC with 11 saves.
Although the Tigers’ postseason run was cut short by Stony Brook in the Baton Rouge Super Regional, Goody’s growth reached deeper than his development on the mound.
“We didn’t win a National Championship, so I wouldn’t consider it a success in that,” Goody said. “I would say at the end, it sucked, but going to school there personally for me was a blessing. It allowed me to grow up. Pitching in front of those people can be crazy.”
Coming out of LSU, Goody scaled three levels of the minors league ladder before ending the 2012 season with the Yankees’ Single A-Advanced affiliate, the Tampa Yankees.
Overall in 2012, Goody finished with a 1.13 ERA in 32 innings pitched while recording 52 strikeouts to only nine walks. He also completed seven out of eight possible save opportunities.
But, something wasn’t right.
After pitching just three innings in two games for Tampa in 2013, Goody took a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, for a consultation with world-renowned orthopedic surgeon and LSU alumnus James Andrews about pain in his throwing arm.
The answer was devastating and familiar — Tommy John Surgery.
“It was something I had to pray on because I didn’t know if I wanted to try to rehab it or not,” Goody said. “All the signs led to having Tommy John.”
Tommy John Surgery, according to the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center, is a common procedure undergone by pitchers on the inside of their throwing elbows to address long-term deterioration of the UCL, the ligament that stabilizes the extension of the arm at the elbow.
Since Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John first underwent the surgery in 1974, it has become commonplace among minor and major league pitchers.
After going under Andrews’ knife in April 2013, Goody started the recovery process, which he said was mentally draining.
When Goody returned to the mound in 2014, he showed the typical ups-and-downs of a pitcher returning from Tommy John Surgery.
Despite recording a 2.35 ERA in 12 games for Tampa in 2014, Goody struggled after being called up to the Trenton Thunder.
In 16 innings pitched, the Orlando, Florida, native recorded a 6.75 ERA while striking out 19 and allowing 10 free passes.
“It’s like you have games where you have it all, and then you’d have games where it was like, ‘Oh man, where is it at?’” Goody said.
Goody’s consistency and accuracy has returned in 2015. In 36 and 2/3 innings pitched in 26 appearances, Goody has tallied 47 strikeouts and only 14 walks while posting a 1.72 ERA.
Despite the adversity he’s faced during his minor league career, Goody’s positivity shines in the fact that his favorite part of playing in the minor leagues is seeing other players get the call as he waits for the same opportunity himself.
“I like seeing guys go up,” Goody said. “When they get the call, it’s awesome to see how they react. But also, you get paid to play baseball, which is pretty awesome.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.