Former Atlanta Braves lefty Matt Marksberry is confident he’ll be back

A rather routine procedure during the 2016 off-season led to a medical emergency and an abrupt end to a young pitcher’s big league career.

In October 2016, Atlanta Braves pitching prospect Matt Marksberry went in for a colonoscopy and woke up from a medically induced coma after suffering a seizure and collapsed lung.

While rehabbing his throwing shoulder, the then 26-year-old had experienced stomach pains for several days, prompting the exam. That’s when the more serious issues occurred, eventually leading to an abrupt end to Marksberry’s time as a major league pitcher.

“Its life,” said Marksberry in a Friday interview with TomahawkTake held via Facebook Messenger. “My family and friends are my biggest support system. I’m a grinder. I’ll never feel sorry for myself. Life’s hard, baseball is hard. Just got to grit my teeth and push through.”

Marksberry, who was drafted by the Braves in round 15 of the 2013 draft and will soon turn 28, was eventually released from the Mississippi roster in March of 2017. After a long recovery process, the Ohio native is now on the comeback trail, playing independent ball in Pennsylvania.

“I’m physically great, my body and health are good,” Marksberry said of his current health situation.

Having made his big league debut in July of 2015, Marksberry appeared in a total of 35 MLB games across two seasons. He had also racked up over 100 minor league games in the Braves system from Danville up to Gwinnett. Less than a year after serious medical issues roadblocked his time with the Braves, the lefty was already throwing in the independent Atlantic League with the Somerset Patriots.

What Grinding Looks Like

The Atlantic League is an open classification professional level of baseball that is frequently a jumping off point for former big league players and long-time minor leaguers to make it to the show.

Now on the Lancaster Barnstormers roster, Marksberry seems to be getting his stuff back and against some pretty good competition.

“Honestly in the Atlantic its all triple-A and ex-big leaguers, so it’s better than most levels of the minors,” Marksberry said. “That’s my opinion.”

Marksberry also played some with the Melbourne Aces in Australia this season.

When asked if he ever thought of giving up on playing baseball altogether, Marksberry said no.

“I wanted to get back in it as soon as I could. I love baseball. It’s a passion,” Marksberry said. “Was it a mental grind during rehab? Yes, but whenever those quitting thoughts creeped in my head I punched them in my face.”

Of his time in the majors, Marksberry said the biggest things he misses are the travel and the competition of the big leagues.

When asked if he had any message to pass along to Braves Country, Marksberry simply said, “in the great words of Arnold [Schwarzenegger] … I’ll be back.”