I’m breathing, guys. I’m good. If you didn’t see my reaction video, you should watch it here.
 
So yesterday, Nov. 20, the Dodgers added Matt to the 40-man roster! Which means MATT IS ON A MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTER!!!!!!
 
OK so before we all go really crazy, this does not mean Matt “got called up” or will be in the big leagues next season. BUT it’s a huge step in that direction.
 
I’ve explained before each team has a 40-man roster and a 25-man roster. The 25-man roster is the group of guys who are traveling and playing/on the bench each day for the team. The 40-man roster is those 25 plus 15 more. The 15 extra (which one is Matt) can be called up at anytime, make quite a bit more money than normal minor league salary and usually get called up in September when the rosters expand to 40. (If a team wants to call you up and you’re not on the 40-man, they have to make more moves to add you to the 40-man then the 25-man than when you’re on the 40-man already.)
 
So why did Matt get added to the 40-man now? There is a thing called the Rule 5 Draft. In short, any player who has not been added to the team’s 40-man roster before their fifth year in the minors/after four seasons can be picked up/drafted by another team. So the Dodgers added Matt to the 40-man roster to project him from being picked up by another team in the Rule 5 Draft (which is Dec. 13).
 
I hope this all makes sense. I know it’s confusing, and I have to talk through everything like 10 times to really understand it (and sometimes then don’t fully understand.) There are a lot of moving parts in this process. I’m trying my best to explain things as we go through them.
 
The biggest thing the 40-man brings is a real income for all the work Matt puts in and just one step closer to making his debut and being a big leaguer. We’re pumped! And thankful to the Dodgers.

(Also if you watched the video — Matt found out when he got on the bus after the game and had spotty Wi-Fi. His response to me was OMG. We're both overwhelmed with all the emotions but thankful. He's obviously super excited and grateful.)

​Greetings from Arizona! Yes, we’re back. 
 
After the OKC Dodgers lost to Memphis in the playoffs, Matt had two days in Tennessee before he was sent back to Arizona.
 
I stayed in TN because my Granddaddy got us tickets to the Vols vs. Florida game. (I should know not to make plays in this baseball life we live in…but I tried.) It worked out because I got to take my best friend Kelsey, and the trip was her first time to Neyland Stadium. Also I got to be in town when my other best friend Jesse had their second boy, Wade. Got to stay in my parents new house — which was the first time I hadn’t stayed in the only house I grew up in. (Shout out to my parents and their loft for housing all our stuff. And it’s A LOT of stuff.) 
 
Honestly, after the past several months, being at the only place I truly call “home” for now was really needed and nice. People at church and other people I ran into consecutive days asked if I had moved back because not used to seeing me that much. HAHA Fair question because I haven’t spent that much time in Dresden since I moved back for the summer before my junior year in college I guess. But no, I didn’t move back. And now Grainger and I are back in Arizona with Matty B.

​Good news: You’ll survive. 
Bad news: You’ll go a little crazy — actually maybe a lot of crazy.
 
For us, rehab is back in Arizona. We love Arizona BUT Arizona during the summer is BRUTAL. The temperatures there are well over 100 which makes it hard to get outside and do anything.
 
The first several weeks after Matt had surgery didn’t entail very much as far as the rehab process. He would go to the field for an hour, two at most which is so short compared to what he is used to this time of year. Our schedule became very opposite of normal baseball schedule. We were going to bed way early (around 9 or 10 p.m.) because at that time we were already trying to entertain ourselves for 10 plus hours. So we were getting up around 7 a.m. and getting breakfast downstairs at the hotel. Matt would head to the field around 8:45 a.m. and be back by 11 if not earlier. Trying to keep ourselves entertained before bedtime was a struggle.
 
Once Matt started practicing, there wasn’t as much down time. But there was still a lot more down time then what we’re used to.
 
Luckily for me, I was working so I had that to keep a little bit of sanity.
 
Once Matt started playing in games, his first game he was so tired because we made the mistake of not getting back on baseball schedule. So a bit of advice for players out there who are rehabbing – once you start practicing get back into the baseball routine, stay up late and get up late. We didn’t do that (mainly because of the boredom leading to an early bedtime) and by game time Matt had been up 12 hours. Whoops. After that game, we got back on schedule and his last two games he looked like himself again.

​The picture above was taken one week ago… as you can tell, we were back to enjoying baseball life (double chin & all) and felt like Matt was starting to get into a groove. The very next night (Saturday, June 16) Matt was 4-for-4 when he slid into home plate, and his thumb got caught on the catcher’s foot.

He came out of the game. We were optimistic in thinking it was just a strain. Until the swelling didn’t go down for a couple of days. June 19 the Dodgers sent Matt to Arizona to get an MRI — we were still not thinking the worst.

The next day Matt got an MRI first thing, and we quickly realized we were dealing with the worst case. A torn ligament. Surgery. 6-8 weeks recovery.

We were devastated. Obviously. Cue pity party. On both our ends. We thought we were finally in the clear for this season. Starting to really put the oblique injury behind us. Then it all comes crashing down. I’ll be honest I’m not sure we’re dealing with it well now, a week later. Just in shock and disbelief we’re right back to square one.

Matt will have surgery on June 26 to repair the UCL ligament in his left thumb. The doctor says the recovery is 6-8 weeks. The main trainer made the comment Matt can put a wrap on this season. Obviously, Matt wants to try and get back to play the last couple of weeks of the season. But we’ll just have to see how surgery goes and then take rehab one day at a time and go from there.

In my last post, we thought Matt was only a week out from being back with the OKC team. I moved everything to OKC, started my job, etc. We thought we had it figured out for the most part.
 
Then baseball laughed at us right in our faces…
 
Matt was feeling great. Had taken BP multiple days at 100% and had no pain or symptoms. He went to start his game progression in Arizona. First at bat first swing, he was right back to ground zero — even a little worse on the pain scale. 
 
I started questioning all the decisions we had made. I can’t believe I’m not there with him to help him through this. People were telling me I was crazy for moving without him. (And maybe I was.) But I like I said in my last post we didn’t have other options and felt it was best…he was going to be back in a week anyway... (Side note: Everyone has a different journey in this life. There isn't a right or wrong way to do things. You do what you think is best for your situation.) 
 
Obviously, rehabbing is frustrating. Having an injury is frustrating. Matt having to pay for part of the hotel in AZ, me paying rent and bills in OKC and being a part is frustrating. Watching all your friends be amidst in baseball season and we’re just feeling kind of stagnant is frustrating. 
 
Matt got hurt again in the game about a week ago now, and after the first couple of days of the pity party (on both our ends), we talked and decided to change our mindsets.
 
Matt has been through a lot of crap in his baseball journey. From not getting as many offers as we felt he should out of high school, to getting hurt his junior year of college, to not even getting drafted after his junior year and all the other draft nonsense he went through. We felt the same frustrations through those that we do now. But like I told Matt looking back all of those tough times have been blessings. We certainly didn’t see that in the moment but we see that now.