Iowa State Rep. J.D. Scholten Joins ‘From Phenom To The Farm’: Episode 108

Image credit: J.D. Scholten in 2019. (ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

With the Iowa State House in recess for July 4th weekend, 1st district Representative J.D. Scholten was spending his time as he often did—at a Sioux City Explorers game.

Scholten enjoyed a bratwurst and a few beers while taking in a game of the team he pitched for from 2003 to 2007 following a standout college career first at Morningside College and then Nebraska.

Explorers pitchers weren’t having nearly as much fun. Mired in a difficult stretch, manager Steve Montgomery had to empty out the staff, including ten pitchers in a single game.

“One of the people as I was walking out jokingly said, ‘Oh they need to get you a uniform,’” Scholten said. “And I just laughed it off.”

Montgomey wasn’t laughing. His pitching staff taxed and his scheduled starter for the July 6th game injured, he put out a desperate call to Scholten to ask if the 44-year-old had anything in the tank to bridge the gap in a spot start for Sioux City.

Scholten had plenty.

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Nearly two decades removed from his last outing in the American Association, the 6-foot-6 righthander delivered 6.2 innings for the Explorers, tossing 100 pitches. Though highly improbable on the surface, to Scholten, who felt he hadn’t gotten all he could out of his talent during his first run at professional baseball, this start was 20 years in the making.

“I was raw for a very long time,” Scholten said. “These last 17 years have eaten at me, because I knew there was more. The pitcher I am today is the pitcher I always thought I could be.”

Scholten threw his last pitch in the American Association in 2007, never making it to affiliated baseball. He then transitioned into the next phase of his life, first as a paralegal and eventually into politics. He launched a strong but unsuccessful challenge to incumbent Rep. Steve King for U.S. Congress in 2018 before eventually winning his District 1 Iowa House of Representatives seat in 2022.

At first, Scholten kept baseball in his life, playing town ball and continuing to throw bullpens and workout. Eventually, he put the glove down for what turned out to be a seven year baseball sabbatical. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, with much more free time on his hands, Scholten started going down a rabbit hole of pitching videos on YouTube, marveling at new technology and the advancements in training.

“What I can do on my phone with my baseball mechanics, with what I can look up, is mind-blowing to me,” Scholten said. “I pitched in the VHS era.”

He got back into town team baseball, joining up with a squad in Minnesota. After winning his election for the State House, Scholten learned that during the House’s summer recess, he could spend his free time however he wished, even if that meant time spent on a baseball diamond.

Sixteen years after last appearing for Sioux City, Scholten spent the 2023 season in Europe pitching for the Twins Oosterhout of the Dutch Major League. Right up until that call from Steve Montgomery, he had been training and preparing for the his next chance on a mound.

“A lot of people hear my story, of going from volunteer to pitching 6 2/3 innings, and think like, ‘Oh he was on the couch and then this just happened,’” said Scholten. “No, this was years of preparation, years of working my tail off … years of constantly thinking ‘I could be better.’”

At the time of writing, Scholten is carrying a 4-0 record with a 2.83 ERA for the Explorers, something that’s been a surprise to everyone but him.

On the latest episode of ‘From Phenom to the Farm,’ Iowa State Representative and Sioux City Explorers righthander J.D. Scholten joins to walk through his improbable return to pro baseball.