Tabor one step away from majors

Former FMU and Manning standout Lee Tabor is in Triple-A in the Reds organization, one step away from being in the major leagues.

By: By Lou Bezjak | SCNOW
Published: August 23, 2009

The way Lee Tabor’s season began, he had no idea he would now be one step away from the major leagues.
The former Manning and Francis Marion standout spent the first four months of the season rehabbing an injured ankle and didn’t appear in a game until June 13 while pitching for Sarasota, the Cincinnati Reds’ Class A affiliate in the Florida State League.
But on Aug. 1, Tabor was promoted to the Louisville Bats in the Triple-A International League. In six relief appearances, he’s 2-0 with a 3.65 ERA.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting this,” Tabor said. “But with all the injuries and trades in the organization, nothing is impossible.”
Tabor, the first FMU player to reach the Triple-A level, says he tries not to let the thought of getting called up by the Reds consume him.
“I think it’s in the back of everybody’s minds, but I’m trying to focus on the task here and the next guy I’m facing,” he said.
Tabor injured his ankle while working out in
Florence in November. He originally thought he just sprained it and nursed it himself. When the pain didn’t go away, he got an X-ray and was diagnosed with a hairline fracture that didn’t seem serious.
Once Tabor got to spring training, though, things fell apart. After getting taped before a workout, he hopped up and the ankle snapped.
“It sounded like someone dropped a plate on a tile floor,” Tabor said. “The feeling wasn’t that bad, but the sound was worse.”
Tabor was taken to the hospital where doctors told him his ankle had been broken since November and he would be sidelined several months. On March 17, he had two screws put in the ankle and couldn’t walk for five weeks.
After that, Tabor began a rehab program at the Reds’ facility in Sarasota for about 5 1/2 hours each day. Tabor’s rehab included upper body workouts to help him put on 20 pounds he lost due to the injury.
Tabor was joined during the rehab by former Lamar and South Carolina standout Jeff Jeffords, also a pitcher in the Reds’ organization.
Jeffords had Tommy John surgery in the offseason and is out for the season.
“It definitely was good having someone down there to pass the time,” Tabor said.
Tabor was able to begin fielding drills in May. A month later, he made his first start of the season.
Tabor still has pain in the ankle and isn’t back to 100 percent, but his delivery hasn’t been affected.
“I’m not even close to where I was before I got hurt,” he said. “It might take up to a year to be where I was, so it’s something you got to get past.”
Before his promotion to Louisville, Tabor was 1-2 with a 3.12 ERA in nine appearances at Double-A Carolina.
Tabor made five starts for Carolina, but has been moved back to the bullpen in Louisville.
“It doesn’t matter if I start or come out of relief,” Tabor said. “I have no preference either way.”

Tabor one step away from majors

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