Winkler Chats About Unusual 2020 Baseball Season

But, after what the Effingham St. Anthony High School graduate has been through in his career in the Major Leagues, this was just another bump in the road.

Winkler was drafted by the Colorado Rockies during the 2011 Major League Baseball draft and signed. In 2013 he went 13-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 157 innings in Tulsa to lead all Minor League players. Unfortunately in 2014 he had to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow.

He overcame the surgery and December 11, 2014, the Atlanta Braves selected Winkler during the Rule 5 Draft. He was activated from the disabled list in September 2015 and debuted on September 21, striking out two of the three New York Mets batters he faced.

But here came that awful luck again. On April 10, 2016 while facing the St. Louis Cardinals' Randal Grichuk, he fractured his elbow and missed the remainder of the 2016 season. He was reactivated in August 2017 but hadn't fulfilled the major league service time requirement mandated of Rule 5 draftees. So, in January 2018, the Braves signed Winkler to a one-year contract. He posted an ERA of 3.43 in 69 games and struck out 69 in 60 1/3 innings.

He was traded to the San Francisco Giants in July of 2019. He became a free agent after the season and in Dcember of 2019 he signed a split major league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

And then, here came COVID. When asked how this baseball season was different, Winkler talked about what he experienced.

"This year was something I thought I’d never experience in baseball, but once we all got used to the protocols, things pretty well ran as business as usual," said Winkler. 

"Not having fans in the stands was extremely odd though, but once I was on the mound I didn’t even really notice it. I would say position players had a much tougher time with it. 

"Some of the differences and protocols we had to follow were just masks on everywhere, except when we were out on the field. So masks in the clubhouse, bullpen, bus, plane, anytime you left your hotel room. It pretty much became a part of you. Honestly, I got so used to wearing the mask that I would have it on in my hotel room and not even realize it.

"Our food was moved to the concourse of Wrigley, served in boxes, and you had to eat in the stands or at your own designated suite, which was kind of really awesome. 

"I would say the toughest part of it all was on my wife and kids. They were pretty well stuck in the condo. They went on walks about twice a day, to Lincoln Park and the lake, but all of our contact with other people was extremely limited. Not being able to bring them up to Wrigley, out to dinner, to the playground, or over to teammates' houses, etc. was very, very difficult.

"But I really have to brag on my wife (Camille, she was a Thoele and grew up in T-Town). She rarely complained and found different fun indoor activities the kids could do, all while being in grad school herself. She could have easily stayed at our home in Nashville, which would have been much easier in many ways, but she wanted us all to be together, which was so amazing for me."

Winkler grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan and, as everyone knows, Cardinals and Cubs fans don't get along too well. 

"I did grow up a Cardinals fan, but once you get in the system, things change real fast," said Winkler. "Especially at the major league level. I’ve always respected the Cubs playing against them. They seemed to just do things right and it always seemed like a fun team to play for. 

"Since coming over here, things were exactly how they seemed. The guys in the clubhouse were so welcoming and didn’t care who you were, you were just someone who could help them win. That's been by far the best thing about the Cubs. It was like being a part of a big family with one goal in mind, from the ownership, front office, coaches and staff, and players. It makes coming into the ballpark everyday, especially with all that’s going on, really easy and fun."

Winkler talked about his injuries.

"When I talk about all the injuries, I’m just thankful for them now," acknowledged Winkler. "They stunk and they were difficult at the time, but they’re just part of the story now. If I could, I wouldn’t go back in time and change them one bit. I just grew so much in those three years of rehabbing as a husband, a baseball player and a Christian that I wouldn’t change it for anything.

"The Tommy John rehab was just a roller coaster battle. One day my elbow would feel great, the next it would feel like I needed surgery again. Then, when I broke my elbow,  I just remember my immediate reaction was just thinking over and over 'Not again, Lord. Please, not again.' I don’t even remember any pain, just the agony of thinking of going through another surgery with another roller coaster rehab crushed me.

"The rehab of the fracture was actually a little easier, since I couldn’t do much until the bone completely healed, but that was the main issue. Because it was my medial epicondyle bone, not much blood flow gets to that area, making it slow to heal.

"I was getting CT scans about every six weeks and I remember we hit a plateau in the healing. It was stuck at about 80% healed for months. This was when I think I hit rock bottom.

'I remember one instance so clearly in my head that was probably the only time I actually considered giving up. I had just left the doctor's office after an X-Ray and I broke down. I had just started a new medication to help speed up the process of the bone healing and it felt like a last ditch effort at helping it heal. I remember just breaking down and telling my wife 'I’m done. It’s never going to heal and I’m never going to pitch again.' And I remember her, obviously being the rock of our family just being so calm and knowing that it’s not over. She just kept telling me everything will be okay; that we didn’t even know the results of the tests yet. She just kept me thinking positive. 

"Of course, I got the results back later that night and they were increasingly better. It had healed better than they thought it might have ever healed, and that I could resume baseball activities soon."

Winkler threw 18.1 innings for the Cubs and finished with 18 strikeouts. He had an ERA of 2.95. In his Major League career he has an 8-2 record with two saves, a 3.56 ERA in 135 games. He's thrown 118.2 innings, allowed 90 hits, 50 walks and struck out 133 for a 1.18 WHIP.

Now it will be on to another season in the spring and this time around, Winkler prays everything will go well and he can have an outstanding season. I'm sure we all pray for that!