David Robertson’s comeback odyssey: From a men’s league to the Olympics to a save in his return to Phillies

Robertson's journey back from Tommy John surgery has had many stops. Now he gets a second shot with the Phillies.

David Robertson earned a save in his 2022 Phillies debut on Wednesday.Read moreJohn Bazemore / AP

Published Aug. 3, 2022, 2:26 p.m. ET

ATLANTA — David Robertson could smile and play along with the narrative that it feels like he never left the Phillies. But that would be glossing over one of the more unlikely comeback stories you will ever hear.

Settle in, then, and listen to this odyssey.

In the 1,207 days since Robertson walked off the mound in Miami, his right elbow seizing up, he had Tommy John surgery and a simultaneous flexor tendon repair, tried to make it back in 12 months only to cut off his rehab, received platelet-rich plasma injections to help the healing, took four months off from throwing, showcased for teams in 2021 and got a few offers but decided not to sign, joined Team USA for a pre-Olympic qualifier, took another break, pitched in a men’s league, went to independent ball, faced the U.S. junior national team as an Olympic tune-up, pitched in the Olympics in Japan, signed with the Tampa Bay Rays and pitched in triple A before making it back to the big leagues, signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, became the closer, and got traded to the Phillies before Tuesday’s deadline.

Got all that?

“I had a very unusual rehab process,” Robertson said Wednesday before tossing a scoreless ninth inning (while wearing his Cubs-blue spikes) for his first Phillies save in a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves. “When they tell you 16 to 18 months, they mean 16 to 18 months. And don’t push it.”

OK, rewind. A men’s league?

“Yeah, I was playing at Cardines Field [in Newport, R.I.],” said Robertson, who lives in nearby Barrington. “A kid who was catching me, he was on a team and I asked if I could pitch a couple innings there, so they let me come over and pitch two innings, start a game. It was the Sunset League. It turns out I was the oldest guy in the men’s league.”

Robertson is 37 now but said he feels like he’s pitching as well as he did when he was 32. That was in 2017, by the way, when he got traded from the White Sox to the Yankees at the deadline and went 5-0 with a 1.03 ERA in 30 appearances down the stretch.

The Phillies would take that, of course. But Robertson won’t be the closer, even though he had a 2.23 ERA and 14 saves in 19 chances with the Cubs and is throwing his cutter as hard as he ever has (93.3 mph). Interim manager Rob Thomson noted that Robertson’s curveball spin is at his peak level, too.

But Thomson hasn’t designated a closer since he took over for the deposed Joe Girardi. Seranthony Domínguez and lefty Brad Hand will keep getting most of the ninth-inning chances.

But Domínguez pitched the eighth Wednesday against the top of the Braves’ order. The Braves had righty-hitting sluggers Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna due to bat in the ninth, so Hand wasn’t the choice there.

“It just so happened that Robbie closed the game today, but he’s not going to be labeled our closer,” Thomson said. “If [lefty-hitting Matt] Olson was leading off the ninth, it would’ve been Hand.”

Fine by Robertson.

“I didn’t sign up to be a closer for the Cubs,” said Robertson, who represents himself in contract talks and negotiated a $100,000 relocation bonus with the Cubs. “I just signed up to pitch in the back end of the bullpen, late innings. I’ll be ready from the sixth [inning] on.”

The Phillies really only need Robertson to be an upgrade over Jeurys Familia, the veteran setup man who signed for $6 million in March but posted a 6.09 ERA and got designated for assignment Tuesday.

As much as anyone, Robertson knows the feeling of not delivering as a free agent with the Phillies. He signed a two-year, $23 million deal before the 2019 season and made a total of seven appearances before his elbow blew out.

Robertson also realizes the opportunity he now has.

“To redeem myself? Yeah, it’d be nice,” he said. “I was very excited to come here last time. I felt like it was the perfect fit, and then I got there and my body just let me down. I couldn’t pitch. I was no help to the team. So, I’m back now, got a chance to throw, got a playoff chance. I’m excited about it.”