Pitching with an Adetude: How Kide Adetuyi Overcame Adversity through his Baseball Journey

Kide Adetuyi by Mark Thalman

ROCKVILLE, Md. - In the fall of 2023, a freshman left-hander took the mound for Florida Atlantic University. The young southpaw was Kide Adetuyi, a pitcher with a lot of promise who had high hopes of making an immediate impact. On the mound, Adetuyi was throwing like he normally would. His catcher gave the sign, curveball. As Adetuyi threw the breaking pitch, he felt a snap in his elbow. The lefty wasn’t in any pain, so he figured nothing was seriously wrong. The next pitch was a fastball. As Adetuyi hurled the heater, he felt another snap and this time an intense pain followed. 

Adetuyi soon found out he tore his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in his elbow and would need Tommy John Surgery to repair the damage. On Halloween, Adetuyi underwent the procedure, ending his entire freshman campaign. He would be sidelined a full year. He wasn’t able to throw a single bullpen session until November 15, 2024. 

“It’s a very long process,” Adetuyi said. “Some of the days can be very repetitive. I would say having good people around me [helped].... You have to hit the weight room hard.”

Adetuyi’s baseball career was in doubt. Not only is there a mystery of the physical ramifications of such a major surgery, but the toll the rehab process takes mentally can be just as damaging. He explained that the thought of his career being over crossed his mind, but he stayed positive to work his back on the mound. 

FAU Head Coach John McCormack explained that most pitchers go through a stage where they question why it happened to them. McCormack was impressed with how Adetuyi handled it, calling this specific mindset “short-lived” and that he “handled it better than most.” McCormack still thinks Adetuyi is working on getting back mentally to where he was before the surgery. 

“He has the ultimate confidence in himself, but I think coming off the Tommy John, there were some times this year where you looked at it and you went ‘oh my [goodness], this is not the same guy.,” McCormack said.

McCormack said that based on his performance with the Bethesda Big Train and what he’s heard, Adetuyi has regained his swag. Big Train Pitching Coach Craig Lopez loves working with Adetuyi. He was excited that Adetuyi persevered and got through the adversity to where he is today. 

“He had something taken away from him,” Lopez said. That is tough when [pitching] is all you want to do. You have to battle all those [human] thoughts of ‘is it over? Am I ever going to be able to pitch again?’ He’s worked his butt off to get here.”

Adetuyi has developed into a very lethal southpaw. Growing up in California, he wasn’t even aware he was left-handed. 

“My earliest baseball memory is my mom bringing me to the field and she signed me up as a righty,” Adetuyi said. “I must have been super bad that the coaches were like ‘I think your kid is a lefty.’ They flipped me around, and it was good from there on out.”

Adetuyi’s love of baseball originated with the San Francisco Giants. He was growing up right in the midst of the Bay Area team winning three titles in five years. His favorite player was third baseman Pablo Sandoval. Although he didn’t become a hitter, Adetuyi’s admiration for Sandoval drew him to the sport. 

“I’m going to try to attack you,” Adetuyi said. “I may not overpower you, but I might deceive you enough to get you [out].”

Adetuyi by Mark Thalman

Lopez remembers the first interaction he had with the lefty. 

“He had a good spirit about him, a smile and an eagerness to learn,” Lopez said. “He has the gifts.”

McCormack emphasized that you can never have too much pitching, especially from the left side. He saw Adetuyi have consistent success in travel ball, which made him a target in the recruiting process. 

“He has skill, but more importantly, he has a really good feel for life and family,” McCormack said. “He’s impressive all the way around. The [first] interaction was phenomenal.”

First baseman Emilio Gonzalez was Adetuyi’s teammate at FAU over the past few seasons. The two have developed a close relationship, as they are staying with the same host family over the summer. 

“Kide is my boy,” Gonzalez said. “He’s one of the coolest guys I’ve ever been around. We just enjoy living together.”

Adetuyi needed as many reps as possible. Even as he enters his junior season at FAU, he has not been exposed to as much at the collegiate level after he missed his freshman season. Throughout the summer, his focus has been on lifting to build muscle. He hopes he can increase his stamina to work deeper into ballgames. With the Owls, Adetuyi made 21 appearances, all out of the bullpen. After he came in relief to begin the summer season, the Big Train converted him into a full-time starter. 

“I knew I really wanted to be a starter,” Adetuyi explained. “I came here and talked to Sal [Colangelo] and asked to start…. I’m just glad to be in the starting rotation.”

The mentality of being a reliever is much different than when one is a starter. As a reliever, one is only asked to pitch for one or two innings. It’s easier to throw at maximum intensity compared to starters, who have to pace themselves to give their teams more length in the game. 

“Your adrenaline will be different,” Adetuyi said. “Being a starter has helped me calm down. You can set the tone for the game.”

Adetuyi by Mark Thalman

McCormack is going to give his southpaw the opportunity to start when he returns to campus. He is eager to see how Adetuyi has developed and will deploy him in whatever role he offers the most value to the rest of the team.

“Coming into the fall, we would like to see if he can start,” McCormack said. “The good pitchers are able to bring their ‘A’ stuff 10 of the [15] times. That’s what we need him to do, to be more consistent with his high-end stuff.”

In his first season off of Tommy John Surgery, Adetuyi “was not happy with the performance.” Now that he’s another year removed from the surgery, he is ready to build on his time with the Big Train, make an impact at the college level and hopefully hear his name called in the 2026 MLB draft next July.    

“I feel like I have a great fastball, but I could locate it a little bit better,” Adetuyi said. “I need to work on the [inside fastball].”

McCormack explained that Adetuyi is at his best when he can locate his fastball inside to righties and run the heater away from lefties. He also will be able to throw the backfoot breaking ball to righties and throw for it a strike at the front hip against lefties. 

Gonzalez is happy that Adetuyi is seeing his hard work pay major dividends. Through his development, he’s seen his teammate make major strides. 

“His offspeed is moving better,” Gonzalez said. “He looks more confident up there.”

In addition to his two-seam fastball, the California native also throws a curveball and a changeup. He understands that if he wants to become a starter for the long haul, he will have to have a lengthy repertoire. He has responded to that challenge by adding a slider into his arsenal to create a four-pitch mix. 

Lopez has focused on getting every part of the pitcher’s body to be in sync. He stressed the importance of every muscle working as one. 

“The thing I work with him on is allowing his body to do the work for him, meaning our lower and upper body together,” Lopez said. “From our feet all the way to our fingers.”

McCormack tries not to mess with Adetuyi’s mechanics. He wants Adetuyi to do whatever works for him, as he hopes the lefty continues to improve into becoming the best pitcher he can be. 

“It’s just such a unique mechanical setup,” McCormack said. “The real problems come when you try to change them.”

Adetuyi has not allowed a run since his first appearance of the year against the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts. He attributes his mound mentality as the main reason why he has achieved such a long scoreless innings streak.  

“I’m not going out there to be cocky, but I know that I’m better than the hitter and that I am going to get the hitter out,” Adetuyi said. “I know if I can get ahead of you quickly, then I’m in the driver’s seat.”

Adetuyi by Mark Thalman

Both McCormack and Gonzalez noted that Adetuyi will chirp at the opposing team, sometimes even a little too often according to the FAU coach. Even with that, McCormack still says that Adetuyi has an infectious personality. 

Gonzalez loves watching Adetuyi on the rubber. In addition to enjoying his friend's dominance, he explained his job at first base also gets a lot easier. 

“I don’t have to do much because he’s unhittable,” Gonzalez said. “Everything is flowing and the game is going quickly. He’s the best pitcher in this league.” 

Lopez explained how there is no magic formula in getting better each time one takes the mound. The pitching coach is very thankful for the time he’s spent with Adetuyi. 

“There’s no substitute for hard work,” Lopez said. “Each moment we have together is a key moment.”

Adetuyi said he still feels elbow soreness after throwing. He had never felt soreness to that part of his arm before he tore his UCL. Through his rehab process and time with Lopez and the Big Train, he feels he is better because of it and will always take with him multiple life lessons. 

“The thing I learned is patience,” Adetuyi said. “My biggest takeaway is don’t take anything for granted.”