Orioles pitching prospect Cody Sedlock knew something was wrong during the 2018 season when his index finger would turn cold after he pitched. He had been dealing with what he had been told was a shoulder strain, but the cold finger and recurring blisters indicated that something else was wrong.
The problem, it turned out, was thoracic outlet syndrome, a compression of nerves in the shoulder area that can cause numbness. Many big-name pitchers have undergone thoracic outlet surgery during recent years, such as Kenny Rogers, Josh Beckett and Matt Harvey, along with current Orioles Alex Cobb and Nate Karns. For Sedlock -- the Orioles' first-round pick in the 2016 draft -- it was both a setback and an opportunity.
"Everyone has their journey, and everyone is going to have a bump in the road," Sedlock told Glenn Clark Radio April 5. "For me, it definitely put things in perspective. It kind of just cancels out all the pressure and the expectations, and it kind of helped me realize who is truly on my side and who truly still believes in me."
