Mets call – A 24-year-old Mets rookie’s major-league debut was timed to a narrow window: his father Paul checked out of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago so he could be at Nationals Park on Wednesday. After a spinal surgery went wrong, Paul is still learning to walk with
At 3 p.m. on Monday, Zach Thornton called his father, Paul, with news that sounded unreal until it was spoken aloud: the New York Mets were promoting him to pitch in Wednesday’s game for his major-league debut.
Paul answered from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. where he has spent the past month-plus relearning how to walk after a spinal surgery went wrong. For a moment, the only thing the call could carry was emotion. The video chat was brief. When Paul’s eyes welled up with tears, Zach kept it simple. “I’m going,” he told his dad.
“OK,” Paul answered, his voice catching. “So are we.”
Paul checked out of the hospital, meaning he cannot go back. The remaining rehab therapy will take place in Kansas, where he lives, as an outpatient—something he said is fine as long as he can see Zach fulfill his dream of playing in the big leagues.
The Mets plan to have the 24-year-old left-hander start against Washington on Wednesday at Nationals Park.
“It was go and be a dad and support a young man in Zach or take care of my health,” Paul said. “The doctors at Shirley Ryan assured me that my health was in good hands and that they felt as though I could do it. So it really made my decision very easy.”
After the call. Paul and his wife. Julie. headed to Chicago O’Hare International Airport and boarded a flight bound for Washington. D.C. Paul moved around the airport in a wheelchair. When they arrive at Nationals Park, they expect to watch their son from Section 114. Paul plans on sitting in a wheelchair seat.
Paul cannot yet walk on his own. Progress comes in small steps. One recent milestone came earlier this week when he walked 466 feet with the help of a two-wheel walker.
Paul, a former track star, had a choice about what to do with the time he had left in Chicago. His condition wasn’t going to stop him from being there for Zach. So he checked out of Shirley Ryan on Tuesday, less than two months removed from being temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.
“To be honest, as a dad, I’m not going to miss this,” Paul said.
Zach told Tuesday that the first call he made after the Mets informed him of his promotion was to his father. Paul has watched every outing, and he believed in Zach as a pitcher even when few others did.
“I pitch with a big heart for him,” Zach said.
People who know Zach best describe him as an underdog. He stands 6 feet 3, but he used to be the smallest player on his Little League teams. As a junior in high school, he logged just two innings for the varsity squad. After graduating in 2020, he went undrafted.
Zach’s career changed when he attended Barton County Community College in Kansas. As a freshman, he produced a 2.63 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings. Paul helped him get noticed, too. Paul is a track and field coach for the University of Kansas. and one of his friends is also a track and field coach at Grand Canyon University. That friend showed a video of Zach to a Grand Canyon University baseball coach, and the Antelopes began recruiting Zach.
The Mets drafted Zach out of GCU in the fifth round of the 2023 amateur draft. In the minors, he developed a reputation for being unafraid. The tall lefty throws strikes.
He has pitched just two games in Triple A. Over a dozen innings at that level, he allowed just three runs and three walks while racking up 13 strikeouts. The Mets needed a starter after losing veteran Clay Holmes to the injured list. and their options included Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger. prospects ranked higher than Zach. Instead, they picked Zach.
When asked about how he sees himself, Zach described himself as “an ultimate competitor.”
That attitude runs in the family. Zach said, “I 100 percent got that from him,” referencing his father.
Until recently, Paul’s life revolved around running and a track. He joined Kansas in September 2018 after 10 years at Minnesota, coaching the men’s sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and multi-event athletes. Before coaching, Paul was a star athlete at St. Olaf College and made the all-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference three times.
In late winter, he started feeling numbness on his right side. On March 22, he and Julie took a 1 1/2-mile walk. Toward the end of it, he kept dragging his foot. Two days later, Paul went to the doctor for an MRI. On April 2, he had surgery to remove a tumor from his spine.
Paul said his spine began to bleed during the operation. He was losing feeling in his lower body. The surgeon got as much of the tumor out as possible before needing to stop. Within a day or so, Paul was transferred to Shirley Ryan. With Julie, he has documented his journey on social media.
In his first video from the facility, he cried while saying his goal was to walk again in time for the NCAA Track and Field Championships in mid-June. “I’m in it for the battle,” Paul said in that first video.
Over the phone from the airport, the only time his voice wavered when discussing the last couple of months was when he talked about the support he has received from his daughter, Marissa; her husband, Jackson; and Julie and Zach.
Zach and Paul haven’t been apart for long. Despite spending much of the past two months with Double-A Binghamton, Zach has seen his dad a couple of times recently. After Paul’s surgery, the Mets flew Zach out to see his father. When Paul moved to Shirley Ryan, they flew Zach out to Chicago.
“They’ve been nothing but awesome,” Paul said.
As for how long Zach’s time in the majors lasts, the Mets are noncommittal. A lot of it likely depends on how he performs.
Once he gets back to Kansas, Paul said he plans to “work all summer” in hopes of walking on his own again as soon as possible. His next step is simple in its goal and heavy in its meaning: watching Zach pitch without needing a wheelchair.
“The next time I go and get a chance to watch Zach pitch,” Paul said, “I’ll be able to go in with just a walker.”
Mets Zach Thornton Paul Thornton Nationals Park major league debut Shirley Ryan AbilityLab spinal surgery wheelchair Kansas Washington