After hip surgery, Sykora could be even more electric

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Travis Sykora was supposed to be in major league spring training with the Nationals. His dominant first full professional season at Single-A Fredericksburg certainly earned him his first invitation to big league camp. Not necessarily to compete for an Opening Day roster spot, but just to get some work in with major league catchers and coaches.

But unexpected offseason hip surgery will delay the start to his 2025 season, meaning he’s merely a bystander to start spring training instead of an intriguing participant.

General manager Mike Rizzo revealed the news of the 2023 third-round pick’s surgery during his camp-opening meeting with the media, adding that the right-hander is expected to be ready to start minor league games in May. Sykora clarified what went into the decision to have the surgery on Wednesday while making his own media rounds.

“It's just been probably a couple years of just not being able to use my hip the right way,” Sykora said. “I didn't really know it was an injury, but I just kind of had to compensate around it. So my velocity was down a little bit because I wasn't utilizing my body the way it should. So this offseason, I thought I'd get it looked at, and then we figured out what it really was.”

Wait, his velocity was down a little bit? How is that possible?

Sykora’s fastball sat between 95-98 mph last year. Even though he was known to touch triple digits coming out of high school, that is still elite-level velocity, especially at Single-A.

The 6-foot-6 righty was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after going 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA, 0.906 WHIP, 129 strikeouts and 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings across 20 starts. He also dominated in the playoffs to help the FredNats win their first championship since moving to Fredericksburg in 2020.

All while dealing with a hip injury.

Sykora said the surgery will relieve the “pinch” he felt in his right hip while going through his windup and delivery, which in turn will allow him to get back to those triple digits with his heater.

“I utilize a lot of internal rotation on my back hip,” he said. “So when I get into that internal rotation, I would feel a little bit of a pinch. So what I did is I just started bowing out my back leg into external rotation, which is the opposite direction, and kind of just pushed off the mound instead of rotating off the mound. So that's kind of why my velocity was down a little bit.

“So, before surgery, when I was dealing with the hip, it was a lot of joint mobilizations and working on my hip to get it to feel somewhat decent. But now my warmups, my stretching, it's gone down about 50 percent, so it's a lot easier to get it done throughout the day and especially throughout the long season. Last year, all the work I had to do throughout the week and throughout the day, it was a lot. So this year it's a lot more simplified because I have a normal hip now.”

And with a normal hip, Sykora can get back to his ultra-specific routine and ramp the velocity back up to the 100s.

“Not that velocity is everything, but I think I'm gonna be back to hopefully throwing 100 again,” he said. “That's kind of what my strong suit was in high school. So to get back to that, it's going to feel good because – I mean, I like throwing 100, I guess. That and just being efficient on the mound. Last year, I'd get 0-2 on a hitter, and I'd try to let one go, try to throw a fastball by them, and I'd spin open and fly open and miss super high. So I think those noncompetitive pitches are going to improve. You're going to see a lot less of those. And then, like I said, just the day to day, being able to actually work on things that matter, instead of just focusing on the hip.”

Even while the injury limited him to only the high 90s, Sykora learned how to pitch with his lower-velocity stuff. He focused on sequencing his pitches and utilizing his misses to keep hitters off-balance while waiting for his triple-digit fastball to return.

“It's kind of like a blessing in disguise because throwing 100, you can rely on just trying to blow it by everyone on every pitch,” he said. “So it forced me to learn how to pitch like a true pitcher, at lower velocities. So, like I said, it's a blessing in disguise because now I can combine what I learned from a pitchability standpoint with my old velocity. I think that's going to be a separator.”

So, although his season will have a later start than usual, Sykora could be even more electric this year whenever he takes the mound again.

“For me, it's not trying to do anything different,” he said of his goals for this season. “I guess my goal is to do the same thing I did last year with my pitching and with my pitches, trying to keep my arm slot the same and everything the same. Trying to start where I picked off last year. And then be a more efficient thrower and get back to my old velocities.”

Batters be warned.