PHOENIX — The timing could not have been worse for Luke Pettitte to find out he needed Tommy John surgery.
The 21-year-old son of Andy Pettitte, a pitching legend for the Yankees and Astros, had been planning to follow in his father’s footsteps on the mound.
In the midst of his sophomore season last year at Dallas Baptist University — having thrown 11 1/3 shutout innings to begin the 2025 season — he got word that he was done. Then he got word that he was really done. First, a stress fracture in his back. Then, upon his return that summer, a diagnosis of Tommy John surgery.
Any chance of him throwing the ball again before he became draft eligible this July was over.
“It was brutal. I got the MRI back. I remember I just broke down,” Luke Pettitte said. “It was just reinstating in my mind that I’m gonna be fine.”
Now, a year later, Pettitte is fine. Not because he was able to shoot up the draft boards with his performance on the mound. Out of nowhere, the son of one of MLB’s all-time best starting pitchers found out, somewhat randomly, that he could hit at a very high level against Division I pitching.
The 21-year-old DH’d for Dallas Baptist this season with significant success. In just 42 games, Pettitte clocked 16 homers and posted a 1.096 OPS.
Now, that’s forcing him to rethink his entire baseball future.
“If you would have asked him about (hitting professionally) six months ago, he would tell you, ‘No, I just want to pitch,’” said Andy Pettitte, who also coached his son throughout high school. “But I think he’s gotten a lot of confidence in what he was able to do with the bat.
“We’ll see how it all plays out, but I think that he would love to have the opportunity to see where that goes.”
Different teams have different perspectives on what Luke Pettitte can do professionally. The Astros, he said, view him just as a pitcher. Perhaps it’s because they had a first-hand look at a pitcher with the same last name. Pettitte said that other teams are willing to let him try both.
Pettitte believes that if he’d been able to pitch the whole season, he would have been viewed as a third-round pick. He said that, as of mid-June, based on what he’d been told, he expects to be selected somewhere between the fourth and ninth rounds. Whether he’s selected as a pitcher, a hitter or a two-way player remains to be seen.
“I think the biggest thing is just letting the game dictate,” Pettitte said. “A lot of (teams) say they let guys do both for as long as they can, and the game will end up making the decision for them. I’m kinda just waiting for that to happen.”
Luke will be the third of three sons to play baseball at a high level. Jared Pettitte, 28, played two minor-league seasons after signing an undrafted free agent contract with the Marlins. He reached Low A. Josh Pettitte, 31, was drafted by the Yankees in the 37th round out of high school in 2013, but he didn’t sign. Josh ended up pitching just one season at Rice University and never in pro ball.
Luke Pettitte, then 5 years old, stands next to his dad before the 2010 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby in Anaheim. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press)
Perhaps the best chance at continuing the family baseball lineage is Luke, who was too young to remember much of his father’s MLB career that ended when he was 8. He’s aware of the pedigree and history, but the two still butted heads over baseball.
“In my mind, I’m like, ‘I got this figured out. You’re my dad. I don’t want to hear it,’” Luke said. “But a part of me is like, ‘This guy did it for 18 years at the highest level, I should probably listen to him.’”
Andy said he doesn’t want to place any expectations on his children. He’s actually enjoyed watching Luke face the adversity he has, understanding that navigating it in the way he has requires resilience.
“You really can’t enjoy (him pitching) until he’s completely out of the game,” Andy said. “The hitting side of it, I feel like, is much easier to watch. I mean, he’s got a really good approach.”
Luke was a strong hitter coming out of high school. When he went to Dallas Baptist, it was largely with the thought of being a first baseman. The Patriots’ lineup was loaded, though, and he transitioned into a full-time pitcher.
It took about a month of games this season for Luke to realize he actually might be a decent offensive player. He had a stretch of eight home runs in 16 games, and thought to himself, “Shoot, maybe I can do this.”
“I definitely surprised myself,” Pettitte said. “I knew I could hit, but I didn’t think I could do what I did this year, especially for not hitting in two years. I hadn’t seen live pitching in a game setting since my senior year of high school. It definitely surprised all of us.”
Pettitte could have redshirted the 2026 season following his Tommy John surgery. That would have allowed him to pitch for DBU as a redshirt junior in 2027 and re-enter the draft next summer with two years of college eligibility remaining, ensuring he’d have some leverage to procure a decent signing bonus.
He also could have sat out the entire 2026 season, rested, rehabbed and still entered this year’s draft as a pitcher. Tommy John surgeries are exceedingly common these days, and it’s not uncommon for teams to select players who are in the middle of Tommy John rehabs. The surgery would have impacted his stock, perhaps, but not ruined his chances of being selected entirely. After all, he’s expected to be able to pitch again in about a month.
Still, he knew he could hit, and he knew he’d get a crack at it if he suited up for DBU this season. What he didn’t know, until just recently, is that this unfortunate injury could open the door to rethinking his entire baseball future.
“I’m just gonna be myself and play my game, and it’s either gonna bring me to the big leagues or it’s not,” Pettitte said. “I’m gonna have a minor-league career, or I’m gonna play 10-15 years in the big leagues. That’s my mindset.”
