Sarasota’s Joey Terdoslavich ‘fully healthy’ ahead of Pirates’ spring chance

Slowed by an injury last year, Joey Terdoslavich found himself in a unique position.

“In my entire career, I’ve never missed a game from an injury,” Terdoslavich said.

The Sarasota High School alumnus hit a combined .233 with 24 doubles, 14 home runs and 62 RBIs between Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie in the Baltimore organization last season. But Terdoslavich isn’t returning to the Orioles.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him to a minor league contract with a non-roster spring training invitation in January. That means he’ll get a crack to make the Pirates’ squad this spring, which begins Tuesday with the team’s first official workout for pitchers and catchers at Pirate City.

Longtime Sarasota head baseball coach Clyde Metcalf said Terdoslavich has to make himself the utility player that can hit.

“The biggest thing for him to do is just go in and prove how valuable he is as a hitter,” Metcalf said.

Fully healthy, Terdoslavich spent the offseason readying himself to return to his hitting ways. He’s always had a knack for hitting, which helped him get named Atlanta’s 11th-best prospect two years after the Braves drafted him in the sixth round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. One year later, in 2013, Terdoslavich reached the majors.

Then came the “freak” injury during the latter part of the 2015 spring with the Braves.

On an unassisted double play, Terdoslavich, who was playing at first base, got one runner out and then dived to tag another runner. When he did, he jammed his hand and rolled both his wrist and hand.

“It was nothing serious, but bone bruises take the longest time to heal,” said Terdoslavich, who missed 2 1/2 months when the injury first occurred. “When I injured it, you get through the pain and then it starts feeling normal again. You take some time off and it comes back.”

It wasn’t until the second half of last year that Terdoslavich said he felt healthy again.

This offseason, Terdoslavich no longer felt any lingering pain in his left hand. So he went through the last few months training just as he’s done in the past, but this year was the first since before the injury that there wasn’t any pain causing any training hiccups.

“I’m feeling strong and pretty excited to be feeling healthy again,” Terdoslavich said.

His offseason training regimen consists of lifting weights, taking ground balls, taking fly balls and hitting daily for three months. With throwing and hitting, it’s a gradual progression to build arm strength and move from tee work to machine pitching to batting practice to live pitching as he prepares for 2017.

“Joey’s always been a great hitter,” Metcalf said. “He takes great pride in it.”

A 2011 Minor League Player of the Year in Atlanta’s organization, Terdoslavich has played first base, left field and right field in his big league career.

The Pirates are pretty set in the outfield with Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco, but the club has been in search of a full-time first baseman for the past several seasons.

Terdoslavich’s hitting prowess is an attribute that could pay off by the end of the spring.

“I’ve pretty much done that my whole life,” Terdoslavich said. “I take it very seriously. It’s a craft. Hitting is an art. Everybody is different, and you hone your abilities and the way you go about your work. ... I take that to heart and I work at it every single day. You have to really focus on it. ... Hitting is not just something you wake up and do. It’s something you have to put a lot of work into, and I put the work in.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Sarasota’s Joey Terdoslavich ‘fully healthy’ ahead of Pirates’ spring chance."