Resilient Dillon finding his way in Jays minor league camp

Twenty-five year-old Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Justin Dillon credits his faith for helping him persevere through multiple injury setbacks. Photo: Jamie Branje

By Jamie Branje

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Justin Dillon knows the path to the major leagues is winding, and not easily mapped out for everyone.

After multiple college seasons lost to injury, the Placerville, Calif., native is finding his way in the Toronto Blue Jays minor-league camp.

The 25-year-old right handed pitcher refused to sign after being drafted in the 37th round in 2012 by the Colorado Rockies. A few months later he was on an operating table facing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, sustained while pitching at Sacramento State University.

“You have this dream, these goals, and then you feel like you’re so close,” said Dillon, who went 4-8 with a 4.83 earned-run average across all three minor-league levels last season. “And then something happens and you feel like you’re a mile away again. That was kind of like how it was.”

He missed the majority of the another season, 2016, with a hip flexor injury suffered during his third start.

“Every time … on the mound I would start straining it again, all the scar tissue was building up. So it was one of those things like, ‘Is my career over?’ So I started going back to that doubt again,” the 6-foot-3 pitcher said, comparing the two injury experiences.

Since being drafted by the Blue Jays in 2017, Dillon has found a few sources of inspiration that have allowed him to reach this point in his career at their minor-league camp.

“All the setbacks that I’ve had, there’s definitely been times that I’m like, ‘Man, is it even worth it? Do I walk away? Do I keep fighting?” Dillon said. “[But] just believing in God and knowing that he had that path for me kind’ve just eased everything.”

Although Dillon is a baseball player with aspirations of playing in the big leagues, he hopes to stay true to himself and keep everything in check while doing so.

To Dillon, there are are important things than baseball. “There’s a bigger picture than just playing baseball. It’s like my identity isn’t wrapped up in baseball; it’s wrapped up in Christ.”