Justin Masterson Joins ‘From Phenom To The Farm’: Episode 107

Image credit: Justin Masterson #63 of the Boston Red Sox pitches in the sixth inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers on August 9, 2015 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan

Justin Masterson is probably one of the few people who can say that a nasty bout of food poisoning was the first step on a path to success. 

Despite being a late-bloomer from the Indiana high school ranks, Masterson showed enough promise in his 6-foot-6 frame during his 2003 senior year to attract the interest of Division I colleges. He entertained a few offers from MAC schools, but when Notre Dame came calling, Masterson became set on South Bend. 

All he needed to do was attend an on-campus visit to sign his scholarship paperwork, and he’d be a member of the Fighting Irish. The night before his visit, he went out to eat with his cousins, who were students at nearby Bethel College, a Christian school with a strong NAIA baseball program. 

Masterson’s dinner didn’t sit well. The next morning, the Notre Dame coaching staff got a call from his cousin to let them know the righthander wouldn’t be able to make their meeting on account of food poisoning.

The coaches, however, didn’t buy it. 

“I get sick,” Masterson recalled. “(The Notre Dame Coaches) think I got drunk the night before and I got hungover hanging with all these Christian school kids.”

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Notre Dame coaches and admissions soured on Masterson after the incident, and his scholarship disappeared. Masterson didn’t want to go crawling back to other schools after telling them he was attending Notre Dame, so instead, he took his chances and enrolled at Bethel. 

Would Masterson have made it to the big leagues had his stomach cooperated? Maybe. 

But it was messing around playing catch at Bethel that he developed the power sinker from his low three-quarter arm slot that became his calling card in the big leagues. And it was his performance at Bethel that earned him a chance in the Cape Cod League on a temporary contract, which he then turned into a CCBL Hall of Fame performance in the summer of 2005.

Masterson parlayed his standout summer on the Cape into an opportunity to play under Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. He transferred and stepped right into the Aztec rotation, where a solid season led the Red Sox to tab him with their second round pick in the 2006 draft. In early 2008, Masterson made his MLB debut.

His first drive to Boston is just as vivid now as it was then. 

“I’ve got some tears of joy,” Masterson said. “Not even thinking about who I’m facing or anything, just thinking ‘Big Leagues, this is it.’”

Masterson’s brief stay in Boston was impactful. He carried a 1.54 ERA out of the bullpen in the 2008 postseason, before heading to Cleveland as a big part of the Victor Martinez trade package. In Cleveland, he developed into an All-Star, but also found injury trouble in the form of a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, as well as a torn oblique, which affected his ability to extend towards the plate and limited that power sinker. 

With postseason and personal success in the rearview mirror, Masterson spent the tail end of his 20s and early 30s searching for something a bit simpler. 

 “The journey was searching for no pain,” Masterson said. 

After two years of rehab and working to get back to form in Triple-A, Masterson’s body eventually began to cooperate. He finished his age-32 season feeling physically better than he had in years, but mentally, he was ready to close the book on the life path he’d started down by enrolling at Bethel College nearly fifteen years prior. 

“It comes to the priorities of life,” Masterson said. “I have three kids and a wonderful wife. I saw my family five weeks out of nine months, and I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’”

Masterson retired after the 2017 season with 258 big league games under his belt, an All Star selection in 2013 and zero regrets for eating a meal that led to food poisoning and a change of college plans. 

On the latest episode of ‘From Phenom to the Farm,’ big league righthander Justin Masterson joins to walk through his career journey.