This is the second of a three-part series featuring former Flyer baseball players in the pros. Check out last week's feature on Jerry Blevins and stay tuned for another on Mike Haushchild.

DAYTON, Ohio – Former University of Dayton pitcher Craig Stammen has spent parts of seven seasons playing baseball at the highest level. But in 2016, Stammen's baseball path has taken him back to his Ohio roots, rehabbing an arm injury in the minor league system of the Cleveland Indians.

Stammen went under the knife in 2015, and the Versailles, Ohio, native has had a long road to recovery. After having surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right arm, Stammen had hours of rehab and throwing progressions just to get back on the mound. His offseason was busy, but the hard work was only beginning.

"I'm starting to feel good again," Stammen said. "It's been a 15-month rehab process and feels like even longer at times. I knew my injury wasn't going to be easy to come back from, but I was focused on returning to the Major Leagues so I put my head down and went to work as soon as I could." 

Stammen was non-tendered by Washington in December 2015 (meaning his contract expired with less than six years of service time and he was not offered a contract through arbitration), but then he signed a one-year, incentive-based deal with Cleveland in February 2016. 

"The Indians took a chance on me and signed me when I was injured," Stammen said. "They agreed to rehab me and now I'm back pitching again. After all this time I'm thankful to be on the mound again."

The right-hander has seen action in 14 games between Double and Triple-A, allowing nine earned runs in 17.1 innings. He's struck out 14 hitters while walking only four, and is holding opponents to a .250 batting average. 

"I'm getting pretty close to back to where I was back when I was pitching pretty well for Washington out of the bullpen," Stammen said. "I know it's going to take some time before I really get comfortable again. When you take that much time off from throwing and competing in games it takes a little while to get it back, but I've enjoyed being in Triple-A and I feel really good about where I'm at."

Growing up in west central Ohio, a mere 45-minutes from Dayton's campus and just under two hours from his new home field at Huntington Park in downtown Columbus, he's had a chance to get back to his roots and play in front of some familiar faces.

"It's a lot of fun being able to pitch so close to home," Stammen said. "It's just fun to be able to have people you know come to games and watch you pitch. Sometimes the only way people can watch is on TV, so it's great to be here. I grew up and played around here all my life so it's fun to go back down memory lane and enjoy baseball in its purest form."

His rehab portion of getting back to the Major Leagues is complete, and now the focus shifts to establishing a regular routine and providing leadership in the Columbus clubhouse.

"I want to provide the club with a lot of leadership," Stammen claimed. "I stake claim to being a good teammate and I want to help others to get better as well. Hopefully we can win an International League championship and then all get called up to help the Indians win the World Series."

With a little under one month left in the season, Columbus is in first place and holds an eight-game lead over Indianapolis in the International League's West Division. For fans wanting more information on Stammen and the Clippers, check out www.clippersbaseball.com.