PHOENIX – It may have been a meaningless spring training game, but for Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia, it meant everything.
He slowly walked to the mound Monday, listening to the crowd at Camelback Ranch give him a rousing ovation, took a deep breath, and with his heart pounding, proceeded to do what he does best.
Vesia pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the Seattle Mariners, and he walked off the mound, the cheering grew louder and louder. He patted his chest and looked to the crowd in appreciation. He reached the dugout, and every single one of his teammates stood up to hug him, shake his hand, or pump fists.
“It’s been hard,’’ Vesia said. “I guess it’s hard in a good way because I want to interact with all of the fans and stuff like that, but I have a job to do.
“Even on the backfields, first day, I walk out the doors and cheers and lots of love. So, yeah, it means a lot, not only for myself, but for [wife] Kayla, too.’’
This was the first time Vesia pitched in a game since he and Kayla lost their newborn daughter, Sterling Sol, on Oct. 26, just before the start of the World Series. He left the team, but watched every pitch of every game on TV, and celebrated when they won the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
He stayed home with his wife during the World Series parade, still in mourning, and after months of working out fanatically in the gym, and undergoing counseling with his wife, is back with the Dodgers, with life ever so slowly feeling as normal as could be in the aftermath of heartache and tragedy.
“Being around the guys, it’s really been comforting, you know,’’ Vesia said. “We’ve had multiple conversations and guys are asking me questions and just trying to, you know, feel for me. That’s honestly been a blessing. I do like talking about it with the guys and whatnot. I don’t want them to feel like they can’t. These guys are my brothers, man. I truly do love them all.’’
“It was a little overwhelming,’’ said Vesia, who was immediately praised by Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior and assistant Connor McGuiness. “I was just trying to take it all in. Definitely, it was nice.’’
Vesia’s teammates certainly showed their love right back by standing in the dugout when he came off the mound, making sure he understood what he means to them, too.
Vesia, 29, a key left-hander in the Dodgers bullpen, says he had been working out nonstop since the tragedy. He spent hours and hours in the gym, perhaps too much he says, but it was his haven to keep his mind temporarily free from reliving the nightmare of losing a child.
Now, being around his teammates, and playing baseball once again, it’s the therapy Vesia savors.
“Obviously, what Alex and Kayla went through,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “you don’t wish that upon anyone. They’re getting to the other side of things. And to see him getting back out here in a baseball game, and to have a clean inning and be received by the fans, I know it meant a lot to him. Obviously, his teammates feel for him and want to support him.’’
And, now, ever so slowly, day by day, life is starting to become routine again being in spring training.
“I think the main thing is getting back to normalcy,’’ Roberts said. “That’s something I know that he wants and to kind of move forward and focus on 2026. We obviously know what went on, and what they’ve been through, but I think the main thing is getting back to doing what he loves to do, and that’s playing baseball.
“He’s in a good place.’’
Says Vesia: “It’s going to be a fun year. I’m really excited. I think we’re going to do some really cool things this year.’’
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