“Dr. Meister pulled the tendon out of the wrist, and said, ‘Oh, goodness, it’s too muscular at the bottom,’” Ohl said. “So he did an audible and took it out of my [right] leg. I wake up from surgery, and my wife and one of the Rockies’ PTs are there, and I go, ‘Why is my leg hurting?’
“My mom was freaking out. I’m a low walk percentage guy. My mom was like, ‘Your command is going to suffer because you’re missing that ligament now.’
“I said, ‘Mom, that’s the least of my worries. It’s so far away.’”
As for the days since, they have been a little more interesting than Petit’s, but not.
“I have my wife, so I’m not sitting by myself, sulking,” Ohl said. “RJ doesn’t have a wife. I don’t know what he does all day.’
“And for the first six weeks, you can’t even sweat much because they don’t want to deal with infection. Being in Arizona, you can’t go outside without sweating.”
Often it’s the two of them doing what little exercise they are allowed to do in the first month-plus, hanging out in Scottsdale. They have watched Rockies games together, but have to fight the urge to jump out of their chairs when something happens. When it’s early enough in the morning or not too hot, they take barefoot “grounding” walks together on the conditioning field a few feet from the Rockies’ building where they do
the rehab.
Because Ohl, 26, had his operation 16 days before Petit, Ohl is out of the bulky, adjustable arm brace. Petit has another week in his. Activity will pick up, but it’s still a long slog.
But the Rockies aren’t letting them be totally bored to tears.
Both were invited to Denver during the just-completed homestand. They were allowed to be around their teammates at Coors Field, wear uniforms and sit with their teammates during games. They can keep the goal in mind. They’ll be around for selected homestands and take some road trips as their activity increases.
“It’s that light at the end of the tunnel,” Ohl said. “And the Rockies have been incredible. [President of baseball operations Paul] DePodesta texted me on surgery day and the day after. It’s the culture. We felt that day from the day we came here.”
But when they aren’t around the club and they are bored in Scottsdale, they have each other.
“Pierson and I are pretty much joined at the hip,” Petit said.
Maybe boredom has its purpose.
“I know it’s 12-14 months, but haven’t looked at the calendar and planned it out,” Petit said. “It’s probably unhealthy in my head to see the date.”
For now, he’ll settle for monotonous rehab exercises and excitement-free nights over the stove at home.
