Photo courtesy of Connor Grey Frewsburg native Connor Grey is on the road to recovery after having Tommy John surgery.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Tuesday was a good day for Connor Grey.

The 29-year-old Frewsburg native woke up and didn’t feel the need for pain-killing medication for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow last Wednesday.

And while the 2016 St. Bonaventure graduate’s right arm won’t be up to pitching for likely at least a year, his head is in the right place just a couple of weeks removed from hearing some of the worst news of his life.

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In August of last year, Grey was riding high as his professional baseball career reached its pinnacle — a call-up to the Major Leagues with the New York Mets.

Then 28 years old, Grey sat in the bullpen at Yankee Stadium, home of his favorite childhood team, waiting for an opportunity to achieve his dream and pitch in a Major League game. Grey even warmed up during his second game on the roster, but starter Taijuan Walker worked out of a fourth-inning jam and the Mets eventually turned to more-established relievers to finish out the game.

Grey’s stay in New York lasted six days before he was optioned back to the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse where he finished out the season.

As a free agent last winter, Grey re-signed with the Mets and was given an invite to big-league spring training.

On Feb. 27, the 6-foot, 180-pounder was New York’s second pitcher to take the mound during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Grey threw two innings, allowing three hits and two runs while striking out one.

More than a week later, Grey made a second outing with the big-league club. He threw 1 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and two hits while walking two and striking out two. It would be his last appearance in a Spring Training game.

“My last outing in the big leagues, I felt something in my forearm on a slider,” Grey said Tuesday evening from his hotel room on the east coast of the Sunshine State. “I thought nothing of it. I’ve felt that before and it was nothing so I finished the inning.”

After his elbow was “tight for a few days,” Grey threw a bullpen and felt like the arm loosened up as he continued to throw.

On March 17, the 2012 Frewsburg graduate made a scheduled start in minor-league camp and after about 20 pitches pulled himself from the outing.

“I felt a big pull in my forearm that ended up being a strain,” he said. “A few days after the start they did an MRI that showed a partial UCL tear as well.”

During the initial six weeks of not throwing, Grey went through the proper rehab. The initial partial tear came in part of the ligament that “people don’t normally tear,” according to Grey.

“That part isn’t really involved in the elbow’s stability,” he said. “So they said after six weeks I could return, and with the scar tissue, the elbow should be fine.”

Mets medical personnel were originally more concerned with the forearm strain than the elbow, according to Grey. When he returned, his velocity was back up to 92 mph and the arm felt good.

But during Grey’s first live batting practice after returning, he felt something in his elbow after throwing a split-finger fastball.

“It was almost like a hyper-extended elbow. After that live BP it tightened up a little bit so we pushed my second live BP back three more days,” Grey said. “During my second live BP, I was at 92-94 mph, but toward the end of it, my forearm got tight again. I only threw 18 pitches. … They did some valgus stress tests to test the UCL and that’s when I felt something in my elbow.”

After a few days, Mets trainers wanted Grey to try and get back to at least 82 mph while playing catch and he could only get up to 77 before it hurt when he pushed it further.

Now mid-July, new imaging showed what was a low-Grade 2 partial tear of the UCL at first had progressed to a high-Grade 2 tear.

“I asked my trainer if it was in a bad spot and he wouldn’t tell me,” Grey recalled. “I said: ‘You can tell me, I have a pretty good idea It’s gotta be my UCL.’ … I had my head wrapped around it already by the time I had gone to the doctor.”

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A 29-year-old who had never missed a start from high school through college and into professional baseball was about to hear what no pitcher ever wants to hear.

He needed Tommy John surgery.

“I was pretty at ease with needing it since it had lasted 500 professional baseball innings, which is a lot longer than most people last,” Grey said. “This was going to be my first time on the injured list during my whole career.”

After talking to a few colleagues who had Tommy John surgery, Grey decided to go with Dr. Keith Meister, team physician of the Texas Rangers, who works out of TMI Sports Medicine in Arlington, Texas.

Meister is the same doctor who performed Tommy John surgery on all-star pitchers Justin Verlander, Tyler Glasnow and, most recently, Jacob deGrom.

“I’ve talked to a lot of guys who had Tommy John and, from what I’ve heard, he’s the best,” Grey said. “Nobody said a bad word about him.”

Grey flew to Arlington last Monday and had his pre-op appointment on Tuesday.

“Dr. Meister went over everything with a presentation of how the UCL works, the anatomy of it and where the tears happen,” Grey said. “They took some X-rays, looked at the MRIs the Mets sent and agreed with the diagnosis.”

Grey had the surgery last Wednesday. Dr. Meister uses a hybrid surgery method that takes the palmaris tendon from the wrist and also uses an internal brace to stabilize the UCL and elbow, according to Grey.

“That’s his way of getting more stability with increased velocity,” Grey said.

On Thursday, Grey had a post-op appointment and met with physical therapists before heading back to Florida where he will continue his rehab at the Mets facility.

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Grey was a 20th-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016. In 121 games, including 90 starts, he has a 34-28 record with a 4.44 earned run average and 474 strikeouts in 527 1/3 innings.

The son of Lynn and Randy Grey doesn’t see his current situation as the end of his professional baseball career.

“This surgery is so successful now that guys are coming back throwing harder than they did before,” he said. “I was so close to getting back to the big leagues and I still believe I’m there.”

Grey said that when he threw his last live batting practice to Mets Double-A players and prospects, many of them said that they felt like he had big-league stuff.

Recovery time for Tommy John surgery is usually more than year.

Grey woke up from surgery in a brace and will remain in that brace for six weeks.

“Most doctors use a soft, wrapped cast, not a brace right away,” he said. “My doctor put me in a brace right away. I was in pain the first couple of days, but it’s gotten better ever since.”

Dr. Meister has a strict, no-throwing policy for six months following surgery, according to Grey. By 10 months removed from the surgery, Grey hopes to be back on a mound and by 12 months he hopes to be throwing live batting practice once again.

Grey’s one-year contract with the Mets will run out at the end of this season, but the organization is on board with sticking with Grey through his rehabilitation, and his agent is already in talks with the team about extending his contract.

Once Grey leaves Florida, he will relocate to Cleveland where the Mets have already assured him that everything he needs for his rehab will be available.

“I found everything that I need,” Grey said. “I have an apartment lined up in downtown Cleveland. I’ll be close to home if I need to be and two of my college roommates live in Cleveland.

And he’ll be close to Progressive Field, home of the Guardians, so he’ll be reminded of how close he came to pitching in the big leagues less than a year ago.

“It gave me the affirmation. I got to the big leagues. … My stuff was good enough, but they didn’t need me in those six days,” Grey said of his call-up. “That was my feeling going into Spring Training. If I was healthy, I’d be able to get to the big leagues this year.

“It stinks,” Grey added, “that this all happened this year.”