Tag Archives: Dr. Timothy Kremcehk

Post-surgery, Burnett out to prove that he can still pitch

July 5, 2022 stvkrh905 Leave a comment

This is not the path Alec Burnett envisioned when he graduated from Columbus (Ind.) East High School in 2018.
He saw himself going to college to become a physical therapist.
Burnett didn’t know at the time that he would change his major. Nor did he realize he was still going to work with P.T.’s, only he would be the patient.
Born with an extra tricep in his right arm, Burnett began having pain when his arm muscles grew. The muscle slip was entwined with the ulnar nerve in his elbow, causing numbness and pain as he pitched for the University of Indianapolis baseball team.
“I was experiencing extreme pain,” says Burnett. “It was if it was hitting my funny bone 1,000 times. We weren’t sure what it was. I knew it was on the outside of my arm. It felt muscular.
“And it was taking my 88 to 90 mph (fastball) down to 80 to 84 mph. But as frustrating as that was I was still getting outs so we kept rolling with it.”
Bulked up to 205 pounds from 160 when he entered college, the distance between the muscle and nerves for Burnett had narrowed.
Add to that the violent motion that comes with pitching a baseball and something had to give and the condition revealed itself.
“It’s not if you’re going to get hurt, it’s when you’re going to get hurt,” says Burnett. “That motion is just not sustainable.”
A posterior shoulder impingement caused Burnett to sit out the 2019 UIndy season as a redshirt.
He tossed two innings for the Greyhounds before the 2020 campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Burnett had a role to fill on the Indianapolis staff.
“I was the jam guy or fireman or whatever you want to call it,” says Burnett, who ripped five or six pitches in the bullpen then came into a high-intensity situation on short notice. “There might be runners on second and third with one out in a one-run ball game and I’d come in and mitigate the damage.
“I did tremendous out of that role.”
Pitching through pain, Burnett worked in 13 games and 19 innings in 2021 and went 2-0 with 3.79 earned run average, 30 strikeouts and 11 walks for then-pitching coach Landon Hutchison. His WHIP (walks and hit per innings pitched) was 1.263.
Burnett did not pitch in the summer of 2021.
“It was my hope that rest is what my arm needed,” says Burnett.
But with the beginning of velocity training before going to back college, the pain was back in a big way.
“As soon as I picked up a baseball it hurt more than it ever had,” says Burnett. “I knew I had to get it checked out.”
Through a teammate, Burnett consulted with well-respected Cincinnati-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Timothy Kremchek and a nerve specialist.
The tricep slip was discovered through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
An EMG (Electromyography) was done to see the location of disturbance in the nerve pathway.
Burnett was told that surgery was indicated if he wanted to continue in the game.
“It was an easy decision for me,” says Burnett. “I was told if you want to pitch after college (teams) want to see that this is fixed. I love baseball and I love playing baseball. Maybe more than that I love the competition in general. Competition is wanting to be the best version of yourself.
“If I didn’t get that nerve pathway fixed I wasn’t going to be at my best. And with the pain, it hard to focus on the game.”
Ulnar nerve transposition surgery was set for Sept. 21, 2021 in Cincinnati.
The recovery was rough.
“I would not wish nerve pain on anyone,” says Burnett. “I just sat on the couch and cried.
“It was like having your arm over a bonfire and you can’t move it.”
Even so, he started the rehabilitation process the next day and was determined to be ready to pitch for UIndy when the 2022 season opened in February.
“It was a point I wanted to make to myself,” says Burnett. “It wasn’t coming from anybody else.”
Led by athletic trainer Makenna McAteer, Burnett went to PT three or four times a week.
“She went far beyond athletic training,” says Burnett of McAteer. “She got me out of the rut I was in.”
McAteer also put Burnett in-touch with sports psychologist Nate Foster.
“There was a a bunch of bruising and swelling and my range of motion was very, very limited (after surgery),” says Burnett. “I could not bend elbow back and forth at first. I was told to move it as much as I could as soon as I could. I could not afford to lose much range of motion.
“At the beginning, I bet I couldn’t squeeze any hard than an infant. It was that bothered.”
He did his best to get back in the weight room with his teammates. As soon as the incision was closed up, he was working his legs and the left side of his body.
Burnett first threw a baseball in Nov. 15.
“My buddies were so amped up for me,” says Burnett. “That was the cool part.”
He pitched a scoreless frame in the Greyhounds’ season-opening series at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. The “Real Feel” temperature on Feb. 20 was 17 degrees.
“I didn’t have a great year,” says Burnett, who went on to toss 11 2/3 innings over 15 games with an 0-1 mark, one save and 4.63 earned run average while striking out 18 and walking 16. “My struggling performance was a physical issue until I had several in a row, leading to the issue becoming a mental struggle.
“I wouldn’t change anything about this season. This season tested me as a ballplayer and a person. I am now better for it, knowing who I am and just what I am capable of.”
Burnett, 22, has earned several honors for his work in the classroom, including four times Academic All-Great Lakes Valley Conference, twice a GLVC Brother James Gaffney FSC Distinguished Scholar and recipient of a GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award.
He graduated from UIndy and will pursue a Masters of Business Administration and play baseball as a graduate transfer at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y., in 2022-23.
“It’s the best fit for me,” says Burnett of the NCAA Division I program he connected with through his 2022 summer team, the Northwoods League’s Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. “I’m going to have a role. They play a they play a crazy out of conference schedule. I’ll get a chance to play very good college baseball programs.
“I’ll be an MBA student in the business hub of the world. I’ve never been to New York. I’m taking a big leap. But I know I can figure it out.”
With the Rafters, he’s already logged 16 innings in 13 games and is 1-0 with two saves and a 2.25 ERA. He has struck out 26 and walked 10.
Born and raised in Columbus, Alec (22) is the middle child of construction worker Rob and Columbus East teacher Michelle Burnett.
Older sister Jade (25) graduated from Columbus East in 2014 and Franklin (Ind.) College in 2018 and is married and living in the Center Grove area. Younger sister Kyra (16) is heading into her junior year at Columbus East.
Alec played for Olympians head baseball coach Jon Gratz. One of his travel ball stops was with the Indiana Twins where he developed with pitching coach Scott Haase.

Alec Burnett (Jordan Menard/University of Indianapolis Photo)

College

Right-hander Moran sets baseball goals high

July 25, 2020 stvkrh905 5 Comments

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Joe Moran is looking to raise his baseball stock.

Moran, a right-handed pitcher who also swings a potent bat, impressed enough during his time at Anderson (Ind.) University that he became the first player in the NCAA Division III Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference to be invited to play in the prestigious Cape Cod League.

He would have suited up with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox this summer.

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused cancellation on the Cape and Moran wound up with the Local Legends in the newly-formed College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. Taking the play-and-train option, he also works out at Pro X Athlete Development at Grand Park.

His Business Management degree (focused on organizational management) completed in the spring, Academic All-American Moran decided about a month ago that he would continue his baseball and academic development at NAIA-affiliated Taylor University in Upland, Ind.

It was not an easy decision. Moran considers Anderson head coach Matt Bair a mentor — on and off the field — and has regular contact with him.

“As a man, I’ve developed so much because of his leadership and all the other coaches,” says Moran. “My sophomore year, I was soft. I hadn’t developed that bulldog mentality.

“Coach Bair drew that out of me. He helped me compete and make myself better. He never gave me any guarantees. It helped me. I needed something to work for every single day.

“My faith is really an important part of what I am. It’s a relationship I’ll always be grateful for.”

Moran says he plans to enroll at Taylor soon and pursue a masters degree, likely in Transition-to-Teaching while working with the Trojans baseball staff, including head coach Kyle Gould and pitching coach Justin Barber, who was with the Indiana Chargers prior to his current position.

In the first 48 hours of entering the transfer portal, Moran received 13 to 15 offers.

“It was kind of overwhelming,” says Moran. “I turned down a lot of Division I offers.”

Coming out of high school, his outlook was D-I or bust. But that has changed.

“It’s not about where you play, it’s how good you are as a player,” says Moran. “How are you going to help me develop and get drafted? When I sat down with coaches from Taylor I was legitimately blown away. They had a development plan laid out for me.

“I’m 6-foot and a right-handed pitcher. Nothing sticks out about me. My stuff has to be really good to get to the next level.”

Moran mixes a fastball, change-up, slider and curveball.

This summer, his four-seam fastball has been up to 94.5 mph. He is regularly in the low- to mid-90s.

“It has a little bit of a riding action — into a righty (batter) and away from a lefty,” says Moran.

He is aiming for a high spin rate.

“I want to spin it enough so I can throw it higher in the zone,” says Moran.

It’s a “circle” change and a “gyro” slider than Moran employs.

“It has a late break when it’s on,” says Moran of the slider. “There’s a lot of depth to it when it’s good.

“The curve is 2-to-7 (on the clock face). I spin the curve 2300 to 2400 rpm.”

The curve tends to come in at around 73 mph with the slider around 80.

Moran, a 2016 graduate of Anderson High School, was playing in the summer after high school when he felt tightness in his elbow.

He went to Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who is also the Cincinnati Reds team doctor, for Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections and resumed throwing and playing at Anderson U. in the fall.

Moran wound up having Tommy John reconstructive surgery and was not even on the Ravens roster in 2017.

“It took about 14 months until I was able to go live in game,” says Moran. “It was two years after my surgery until I was feeling good again and not worrying about elbow soreness or stiffness.”

Making his collegiate debut in 2018, Moran got into 11 games as a pitcher (nine starts) and went 5-2 with a 3.75 earned run average. In 48 innings, he struck out 49 and walked 26.

As a right-handed hitter in 44 games, Moran amassed a .311 average (46-of-148) with three home runs, 33 runs batted in and 25 runs scored.

In 2019, all 11 of Moran’s AU mound appearance were starts. He went 7-1 with one complete game, a 3.20 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 28 walks in 59 innings.

Offensively, his 2019 produced a .362 average (46-of-127) with five homers, 25 RBIs and 27 runs in 37 games.

The pandemic shorted the 2020 season to four games on the mound (all starts). The righty went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA, 32 strikeouts and seven walks in 20 innings. He averaged 14.4 K’s per nine innings.

At the bat, Moran blazed at a clip of .563 (18-of-32) with one homer, five RBIs, 10 runs and a .667 on-base percentage in nine contests. He was a designated hitter when not pitching.

While he concentrates on pitching during the summer and knows that is where his future lies, Morgan welcome the opportunity to hit at Taylor.

Born and raised in Anderson by Mike and Stephanie Moran, Joe began playing baseball at 5 at Riverfield Little League. During his 11-year-old summer, his team won a state title and had high hopes of the Little League World Series run the next summer, but the team was dismantled.

One of his teammates was Chayce McDermott. The Ball State University pitcher also plays on the Grand Park league’s Local Legends, coached by Butler University assistants Ben Norton and Jake Ratz.

Moran played travel baseball with the Muncie-based Magic City Orioles then, during high school, the Indiana Prospects. His 18U summer was spent with the Northern Indiana Elite.

At Anderson High, Moran played the first three seasons for Terry Turner and the last for Adrian Heim.

“He’s one of the best men that I know,” says Moran of Turner. “I genuinely mean that. He cared so much about the program and he put his all into it. He loved me from the jump.

“I wish I would’ve had more time with (Heim). He’s knowledgable about the game.”

Moran missed the 2017 summer season because of surgery and spent 2018 grinding it out int he weight room. In 2019, he went to Ontario to play with the Northwoods League’s Thunder Bay Border Cats.

Mike Moran is a grain farmer who tends about 2,000 acres. Stephanie Moran works in Engagement and Adult Studies at Anderson U. The couple have three children — Bobby (26), Joe (22) and Megan (20). AU graduate Bobby played golf and tennis at Anderson High. AU student Megan played volleyball and softball with the Anderson Indians.

Contact Steve Krah at stvkrh905@gmail.com