Jake Higginbotham is making good progress with his rehab and should be able to begin throwing a baseball again in a few months. TCI caught up with Jake to get the latest.
“My rehab is going well. My arm is feeling a lot better and I’m on schedule to begin my throwing program at the end of August,” Higginbotham told The Clemson Insider.
There is still plenty of work for Jake as he works to get back to 100 percent after the injury.
“I have to continue to strengthen my arm and get it back to full flexibility. I’m also working to get my legs and core stronger so that I’m ready for workouts when we return to school in August. By then, I should be close to starting my throwing program,” said Higginbotham.
How was it having to watch his teammates down the stretch without being able to help his team?
“It was tough. But I’m very proud of how the guys finished the season out. We were a resilient team all year and our toughness really showed down the stretch. They did a great job,” replied Higginbotham.
Jake was proud of how his team finished the regular season strong and won the ACC Championship.
“It was awesome. Everyone worked so hard in the offseason last year to prepare for the grind of the long season and to see it pay off for all the guys was awesome. We give a lot of credit to our coaching staff and Rick Franzblau for preparing us mentally and physically and all the preparation helped the guys to win down the stretch,” said Higginbotham.
Expectations are high for next season.
“I think we can be really good. We have almost our whole pitching staff returning and a group of hitters that are capable of putting up runs on anybody. It’ll be a fun year for us and I think we are all looking forward to our preparation this offseason for the spring,” said Higginbotham.
Pitching was inconsistent for the Tigers this season, but came on strong to help the Tigers earn a national seed and win the ACC Championship. With Jake back and some other help on the way pitching looks to be a strength next season.
“Absolutely. I think that we are all comfortable with how Coach See does things and what his expectations are in year two. We have a lot of strong arms on the staff this year that I think we will give a lot of teams trouble. We should have a deep bullpen and a number of guys that can start as well. It’ll be fun to compete and pitch alongside the staff we have this year,” said Higginbotham.
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