New Perspective: Geoff Gilbert returns to mound with fresh outlook

Experiencing a lost season as a baseball player has the potential to be both incredibly frustrating, and serve as an opportunity for growth. Renegades left-handed pitcher Geoff Gilbert has experienced plenty of both over the last year.

In 2024, he started the season with the Renegades, throwing seven scoreless innings across five appearances before going down with an elbow injury that ultimately led to him missing the remainder of the season.

There were several starts and stops along the way, and one day he would feel okay throwing and the next he wouldn’t. Ultimately, the decision was made for Gilbert to have elbow surgery to fix the issue. While it wasn’t full Tommy John surgery, any elbow procedure is enough to make a pitcher anxious. However, Gilbert puts a positive spin on things, saying that the time off rehabbing gave him time for valuable self-reflection.

“I think it kind of just allowed me to hit a reset button,” Gilbert said. “In the past couple years, you go through three years of college, and then you get drafted, and you get pushed right into the organization … Everything's going so quickly that when you get hurt and you have surgery and all that, I think it just kind of gives you a new perspective. So it really just allowed me to have a new opportunity to slow life down.”

Gilbert was drafted in the 13^th round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft by the Yankees out of Clemson University. In his first professional season the next year, Gilbert was excellent with Single-A Tampa, recording a 2.92 ERA in 49.1 innings with 58 strikeouts. Gilbert was called up to the Renegades for the 2023 playoffs, earning a save in the North Division Series with the Renegades with a clutch performance in Game 3 against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.

However, with the 2024 campaign largely lost, it felt like all that positive momentum had been halted. Gilbert faced a situation he’d never dealt with before.

“It was a big learning experience for me,” Gilbert said. “I'd never gone through a major injury in my life, really. It had just been kind of the bumps and bruises from here and there playing a baseball season, and I really didn't know what to expect. You think you have this really good five or six days of throwing, and then all of a sudden you get to a bullpen, and you're throwing as hard as you can. You're launching it all over the place, and I'm topping out at 85 [mph] and it's like, yeah, that doesn't feel good.”

The rehab process is hard on anyone, but for Gilbert, it was especially challenging. For the first 10 weeks of the process, surgery hadn’t been established as a course of action. Gilbert would feel great one day and terrible the next. While the recognition that surgery is required can be a devastating blow for some, Gilbert was actually reassured. He could now see a direction.

“It was kind of a refreshing feeling,” Gilbert said. “I had gone through four months and had a pretty dominant April, got put right to a halt and put the brakes on it … Okay, we have an answer, and we can kind of move on, you know, and knowing that it really wasn't the end of the world.”

From late April until spring training, Gilbert was without organized baseball. It was the first time in years that he had to grapple with losing the sport to which he dedicates his life. That can test anyone’s resolve.

“I think it allowed me just to mature,” Gilbert said. “Everything's just going full speed, 110 miles an hour, and then you just slam on the brakes. And it really allowed me to just kind of reset, not only in my professional career as a baseball player, but kind of reset as a man … Well, yeah, you don't have baseball right now, so what the heck else are you going to do? And it really just allowed me to kind of focus on the things that were more important, family, faith, and the things kind of outside of baseball.”

After a grueling fight to return to game action, Gilbert arrived to spring training in Tampa healthy and ready to pitch. The southpaw was even given some opportunities to throw in big league camp, making three appearances for the Yankees.

“I learned a lot about where I was again,” Gilbert said. “It was very exciting just to be back there and being able to compete. Not having to think so much about mechanics or where the pitches are going or this and that, and just being able to completely blind everything else out. I would say that's more so the enjoyable part about baseball in spring training is getting into those environments and having that big time adrenaline rush that you really won't get on the backfields.”

With the 2025 season ramping up, Gilbert will get increasing moments to pitch in crucial situations in front of jubilant Renegades crowds. That’s one of the things that the 24-year-old missed the most during his time sidelined with injury. Gilbert loves to operate in high-pressure situations. Getting that opportunity means so much more now to Gilbert.

“It's something that I've pretty much been my whole baseball career, feeding off that adrenaline rush,” Gilbert said. “I love it. It's addicting. I think that's why you play the game, is to be in those big moments … I think pitching, in all honesty, is a little bit easier when that adrenaline arises, because you really don't have to try as much to force anything.”