Kevin Bradley's long road to recovery (NJ.com) Trenton Times

Kevin Bradley was going through the same routine he had gone through for much of his entire life.
It was early January and the former Hopewell Valley baseball star and two-time Times’ Player of the Year was

preparing for the upcoming season. He was a week away from boarding a plane to head to The State College of Florida, where he had transferred for his sophomore year after spending his freshman year at Clemson University.

But something in his right throwing shoulder didn’t feel right. Three weeks into the fall season at TSCF Bradley jammed his shoulder while diving back into first base on a pickoff attempt.

“I waited a week or so before I could start rehab,” Bradley recalled. “I slowly worked my way back before I was throwing, lifting, hitting and doing everything that I wanted to do.”

The former Bulldogs’ standout, who played every single inning at shortstop for Hopewell Valley over his four- year career — approximately 735 innings and 2,205 outs — and racked up a school-record 121 hits had performed well enough before and after the injury to earn a scholarship to Oklahoma State this upcoming fall.

Though Bradley said his velocity was normal after rehabbing from the injury something still seemed just a little bit off. So he sought the guidance of a trainer at Princeton University — where his dad Scott is the head baseball coach — to get an MRI.

“It showed that I had a torn labrum,” Bradley said. “Once I got that I was kind of surprised because I was able

to do so much. It was an issue of stability. If I didn’t get that fixed my shoulder would continue to pop out.”

Fortunately Bradley had some pretty good connections. Chris Young, who played for Scott at Princeton, underwent shoulder surgery by Dr. David Altchek, who is the Medical Director for the New York Mets and a medical consultant for the NBA.

“Along with Dr. (James) Andrew’s he’s probably the guy when it comes to shoulders in the country right now for baseball players,” Bradley said. “I really lucked out there.”

Bradley underwent surgery to repair the right labrum on January 14. When he went in for his post-op appointment he received the best news he could have anticipated.

Because his was more of a traumatic injury — more so like a football injury — instead of a fraying of the muscles due to years of overuse that pitchers typically deal with, Dr. Altchek told Bradley he thought his chances towards a 100 percent recovery were good.

“He said, ‘I rarely say that,’” Bradley recalled. “But how far along we are and how good it looked he said it might even end up being better with all of the rehab.”

He was in a sling for the first month and began rehab with Princeton trainer Charlie Thompson in mid-February. He threw for the first time following surgery on May 1.

“It was definitely something cool,” Bradley said of being able to throw again. “I just went over to Princeton and met my dad like I have a million times before because that’s where I’ve always gone to get my work in. We played catch — I had to take a rest after each set — but it was just me and my dad from square one starting. It was definitely a good feeling to throw again.”

Making the unnerving and unfamiliar process even more stress-free was the fact that Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday never wavered in his commitment to Bradley
.
“He’s been awesome throughout the whole process and been supportive,” Bradley said. “They told me all along they wanted me out there, which was a big relief with how crazy college baseball can be these days.”

Bradley said he’s close to being back to 100 percent in every other area of his return except for throwing, where he hopes to be sometime around August. He’s set to provide the Cowboys with a third baseman and a left- handed hitting bat (he’s stopped switch-hitting collegiately). He could see occasional time behind the plate where scouts project his best professional position to be.

There is some semblance of a silver lining in sustaining the injury, however. Because Bradley was technically at a junior college this year, he’s eligible to be drafted in the MLB First-Year Player Draft to be held from June 5- 7.

Though it’s probably unlikely a team would draft him high enough this season to get him to forego his opportunity at Oklahoma State, Bradley will be a redshirt sophomore when he arrives in Stillwater. Because he would be three years removed from high school graduation at the end of next season he’d be eligible to be drafted after each of the following three seasons, leaving Bradley with ample options.

“It’s definitely a unique situation,” Bradley said with a laugh. “I’m definitely looking forward to the future.”