CINCINNATI — Bronson Arroyo wanted to come back to Cincinnati and end his professional baseball career with the Reds.
Unfortunately for the right-handed pitcher, the end may come sooner than he would have liked.
A fan and media favorite, Arroyo missed the last three seasons with arm and shoulder injuries. Now 40 years old, Arroyo wanted to make it back to the major leagues for one final shot at a comeback.
His former team gave him that comeback opportunity but it hasn’t had the storybook ending so many people and Arroyo had envisioned.
Arroyo — who played for the Reds from 2006-2013 — had a good showing in spring training that enabled him to make the team and he notched three wins once the regular season began.
When he beat the Baltimore Orioles on April 18, Arroyo handed out T-shirts to his teammates with a picture of him pitching in a graveyard with the words, “Return of the Living Dead.”
But now it appears that the amiable personality’s baseball career is in critical condition.
On Sunday, June 18, the Los Angeles Dodgers scored five runs on seven hits in just three innings against Arroyo. The Reds made a comeback but lost 8-7 as they were unable to dig out of the deep hole.
“You have to put up enough quality starts for a ball club to want to keep you around, you know,” said Arroyo. “That could have been the last time I was on the field. Yeah. It’s just the way it is.”
With a fastball that had declined from the 90s to a maximum of 85 miles an hour, Arroyo became a pitcher as he changed speeds and altered the level of his arm on pitch deliveries.
But the numbers were mounting against him and they weren’t pretty. He has a 3-6 record and a 7.35 earned run average in 71 innings. He has 45 strikeouts and 19 walks, but he has allowed 94 hits including 23 home runs.
Arroyo had right shoulder surgery in 2014. A fierce competitor, Arroyo suffered shoulder problems this season but he continued to work through pain with cortisone shots.
When his most recent shot failed to offer any relief, Arroyo found himself having pain even during his bullpen sessions.
“It’s a tough situation trying to perform when you feel like you’re running uphill and into the wind all the time,” said Arroyo. “I was hoping my arm would continue to get better and better as the year has gone on. It’s almost like it’s telling me, ‘Hey man, I’m not going to run this race for you anymore.”
Arroyo was placed on the 10-day disabled list the next day and later moved to the 60-day list. It appeared to be the flat line of his career.
“We tried to patch it up and it worked for a while, but I’ve been hit around the yard for a while now,” said Arroyo. “Have I thought ‘This time might be my last time on the field?’ Yeah.”
Reds’ manager Bryan Price — a former pitcher and pitching coach — understands what Arroyo is facing.
“It’s not just a challenge with his stuff. It’s a physical challenge,” said Price.
Arroyo signed a two-year $23.5 million deal with Arizona in 2014 but went on the disabled list on June 16 for the first time in his career. He underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL and he finished the year 7-4 with a 4.08 ERA.
He did not pitch in 2015 and signed a minor league deal with Washington in January of 2016. But after only nine innings with organization’s team in the Gulf Coast League, Arroyo had a sore elbow and was eventually released.
Having loved his career time in Cincinnati and the Reds needing pitching held either as a starter or reliever, Arroyo signed a minor league contract that included an invitation to spring training.
“I’ve been dealing with the same two arm issues for a while. The elbow — Tommy John (surgery) is like a chain out on a bicycle. It doesn’t matter how bad the chain is. If the rest of the bike is OK, you change out the chain and you continue to move forward,” said Arroyo.
“But a shoulder is more like your favorite shirt you’ve been wearing for the last 15 years and it’s been washed too many times. So, it gets brittle, right?
“You have some tears in there and there’s really not a whole lot you can do about it. We’ve been doing the best we can with it by masking it with cortisone the entire season, including spring training. Right now, it’s not going to work anymore. I don’t know if we have any more options. We’ll see.”
Arroyo plays the guitar and sings in his free time. He made his first public appearance in January of 2004 at the Hot Stove Cool Music fundraiser at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.
He released an album — Covering the Bases —that included cover songs from some of his favorite bands such as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters and Incubus.
The album had the Boston Red Sox victory song “Dirty Water” by the Standells in which Arroyo is accompanied by former Red Sox teammates Johnny Damon, Lenny DeNardo and Kevin Youkilis. Arroyo taught the Red Sox Kevin Millar how to play the guitar.
Music might fill his time once he hangs up his cleats, but the sounds will never drown out what Arroyo has accomplished.
With a 148-137 record, 4.28 earned run average and 1,571 strikeouts, Arroyo has had a very good career. He was an All-Star in 2006 and won a Gold Glove in 2010 to go with his World Series ring in 2004 with the Red Sox.
There is a flickering hope that some extended time might help Arroyo heal enough to make it back for at least one more start for Reds’ fans.
If it happens, it will be one start that will bring a remarkable end.
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Jim Walker is sports editor of The Ironton Tribune.