The Rockaway Wave
Originally published July 28, 2023
In 2021, Joshua Cornielly was told his baseball career might be over.
He had a shoulder injury, and said the doctor told him that he believed he would not throw again.
“I was crying, to be honest,” Cornielly said. “It was a tough night for me, and I didn’t sleep very well. I just woke up with a new energy and trying to forget about what he said and prove that he’s going to be wrong.”
Cornielly said he got a diagnostic on his shoulder and was told to not do anything for three months. When the three months were up, he got another diagnostic, and nothing had changed.
The doctor told him he would give him three more weeks, and in those three weeks he was to start throwing again. If he had some pain while throwing, then it would mean he would have to undergo surgery.
So, Cornielly started throwing again, and he said he felt nothing. It was like it disappeared.
“I just stayed with strong faith, and also worked really, really hard, and I just did my best,” Cornielly said.
He didn’t pitch for the entirety of 2021, and spent time rehabbing in Port St. Lucie, the Mets’ main minor league complex.
Chris Newell, the current manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, also spent time there as a rehab coach in 2021.
“It was tough,” Newell said. “It’s always tough watching guys down there cause they’re not able to compete. Some guys their careers are in jeopardy. For me, I’m working on the physical stuff with the guys, but I’m also working on the mental part, because that’s the most important. Anybody who’s ever been injured, they’re never gonna be able to be right physically again unless they’re right mentally.”
Newell said his experience in St. Lucie was invaluable to him, and one that really opened his eyes to what rehabbing players go through.
“Watching those guys go through what they did each and every morning, the sacrifices that they made to get to where they are now — I’ll give Josh Cornielly the ball in any tough situation, and whether he comes through or not, I know he’s equipped to handle it,” Newell said.
Cornielly made his return to the mound in 2022 for Low-A St. Lucie and threw 46.2 innings, tied for the 5th most all-season on the team.
“It was so emotional for me,” Cornielly said. “A lot of emotion there, a lot feelings, being back and doing what I love to do.”
He then went on to pitch for the Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in the winter, which was another kind of special experience for the Caracas, Venezuela native.
“That’s something that I also dreamed when I was a kid, because that’s my hometown team, the team I always cheered for,” Cornielly said.
He made 10 appearances for Caracas during the 2022-23 season and pitched well, posting a 3.45 ERA over 15.2 innings. The team featured major league talent like Eugenio Suárez, Gleyber Torres, Orlando Arcia, Jhoulys Chacín, Miguel Socolovich and many others, who Cornielly said he learned a lot from and still keeps in touch with.
Caracas would win the league — making Cornielly a champion with his hometown team.
He started the 2023 season with Brooklyn and has turned into a really valuable piece of the bullpen. Over 21 appearances, which is tied for the third-most on the team, he has a 4.08 ERA. However, if you take out his first three appearances of the year, his ERA dropps to 2.81, as he’s been pitching really well for about three months now.
“Commanding all of his pitches, throwing strikes, mixing and matching pretty well,” John Vaughn, Brooklyn’s bench coach, said of what Cornielly is doing best right now. “Really good fastball, really good slider, locating, and he’s been in a lot of high leverage situations recently and he’s been working through those too.”
At 20 years old Cornielly’s baseball career was almost over. Now two years later, he’s making the most of every opportunity that comes his way.
“He realized hey, I’m lucky,” Newell said. “As he kind of says, I was on borrowed time for a while, probably still on borrowed time. You know what, I’m going to enjoy this moment. And nobody embraces the moment like him right now.”
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