The Nutshell: Triumph through trials

Cameron Cotter’s list of players he grew up competing against sounds like a present-day fantasy baseball roster.

“MacKenzie Gore, Gavin Williams, Jo Adell, like a ton of big-league talent there,” Cotter said. "I mean, (Patrick) Bailey was on my team, so a Gold Glove catcher now. There were a lot of first rounders from the state of North Carolina. The four years I was in high school, there were a couple guys drafted from my conference. So, there’s talent everywhere.”

Cotter was born in Greensboro, N.C., and met Bailey when the pair were around 10 years old. The two instantly became good friends while playing baseball together on a youth travel team.

The two went to different high schools in the area but hung out often. Bailey was a huge influence on Cotter’s decision to pursue baseball at North Carolina State University once high school was closing out.

“Pat was the first from our summer travel team to commit to NC State,” Cotter said. "Another one of my best friends, Josh Pike, who’s the pitching coach at San Jose State now, he committed to NC State shortly after Pat. With two of my best friends committed, there was a pretty easy decision when they started recruiting me."

Bailey was with the Flying Squirrels in 2023 and later went on to make his major league debut with the Giants that same season.

The fun times rolled when Cotter and his teammates first arrived on campus ahead of the 2018 season. Sadly, he spent his freshman year watching from the dugout instead of on the mound.

In the last fall scrimmage, Cotter felt his elbow pop and quickly found out he tore his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL). The injury required reconstruction from the commonly known Tommy John Surgery and took Cotter out of competition for the year.

His first season in a new place with all his close friends was spent rehabbing.

“It was hard. I mean, there were a lot of things that went into it,” Cotter said. "Looking back, I learned a lot from that process about how to properly take care of my body and some of the changes I needed to make down the road to stay healthy.”

Cotter cleared all his rehab work and pitched a successful 2019 season with the Wolfpack, appearing 22 times.

2020 presented another injury challenge for Cotter. Before the season began, he noticed sharp pain in his back from working out. The pain became so unbearable that he could not sleep on a mattress. The lingering aches led to back surgery in 2020, which should have been rehab, but the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the rest of the 2020 season.

2021 presented another setback with his second Tommy John Surgery.

“Similar to 2017, last fall scrimmage and for whatever reason, my elbow popped again,” Cotter said. “I kind of knew that was going to be the end of the 2021 season for me, and potentially the end of my baseball career altogether.”

In total, Cotter appeared 23 times for the Wolfpack over four seasons. After the spring of 2021, he went to graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, refusing to play baseball, in preparation for medical school.

A local high school called him and asked if he wanted to coach. Cotter immediately took the offer to give back to the community and started his training before leading the high school practices.

He noticed more speed on his pitches during his training and decided to invest once again in his baseball career.

“The velocity ticked up into the mid-90s and I posted some videos to Twitter. That’s when I was like ‘alright, I think I’m going to go all in on this again.’”

The social media posts worked for him as the High Point Rockers as part of the independent Atlantic League signed him. Cotter pitched for the team in 2022 and made six outings in 2023 before getting an opportunity to play in the Giants organization.

High Point’s manager alerted Cotter on a bus trip in 2023 that the Giants would be calling him and as he stepped off the vehicle, his phone rang. The opportunity to play in affiliated baseball, and in the same organization as Bailey, was in front of him.

“I got in about 2 a.m. and packed up all my stuff from High Point, drove home and got all my stuff packed for the next six to eight months, and who knew where I was going to be at,” Cotter said. "I had hoodies, swimsuits and the whole nine yards. It was a wild experience, crazy 48 hours, but it was really cool.”

Favorite baseball venue? – AT&T Park (when I went), now Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants

What is your signature dish? – Love to grill. Ribeye, Mexican street corn and some veggies

Who has the best hair in the clubhouse? – Helcris Olivarez

Who were your favorite baseball players growing up? – Tim Lincecum

What is your spirit animal? – Golden Retriever or a Yellow Lab

Most inspirational person in your life? – My parents