Former Nebraska baseball pitcher Mason McConnaughey is hoping to return to the mound in 2026 after suffering a season-ending injury during his final season in Lincoln.
The right-handed hurler saw his 2025 campaign cut short after an arm injury during the third weekend of the year forced him to miss the remainder of the season. He underwent Tommy John surgery last spring, with recovery continuing into 2026.
“Primary goal one is to get healthy, and then goal number two is to just stay consistent with how I recover, how I treat my body day in and day out,” McConnaughey told Hail Varsity. “They’re kind of dull goals, but going through the rehab process isn’t necessarily the most exciting. It’s very black and white, so being able to complete and dominate the rehab process is definitely my main goal.”
McConnaughey began his collegiate career at Cloud County Community College, where he spent one season before joining the Huskers in 2024.
“I was initially planning on going back to Cloud County Community College,” McConnaughey said. “I had received a call from Nebraska, and I wasn’t going up there expecting anything, but the minute that I met the coaching staff, I saw the campus, I heard what Nebraska baseball was about, it was kind of one of those things when you know you know. It immediately clicked for me, and I knew I wanted to be there.”
As a sophomore, McConnaughey appeared in 17 games with 11 starts. He went 9-3 with a 3.45 ERA while limiting batters to a .239 hitting percentage with 91 strikeouts across 73 innings pitched.
Named a preseason All-American ahead of the 2025 season, he made three starts, going 1-1 before suffering a season ending injury against Sam Houston at the Frisco Classic on Feb. 28, 2025.
“I did not know the entirety of the injury initially until we got back to Lincoln and did an MRI on Monday,” McConnaughey said. “I think everybody’s natural reaction is to be dejected when they have a season-ending injury. I was definitely dejected for two or three days, but then from that standpoint, there were steps that needed to be taken in order to continue my career and continue to play. Obviously, I wasn’t going to let it stop me from progressing throughout my baseball career, so my next plan and agenda was to figure out my next steps and how I could proceed and how I could recover from that injury as best as possible.”
McConnaughey spent six weeks in a brace, getting strength and motion back before regaining lower body strength. He had to overcome challenges both physically and mentally.
“It was definitely monotonous,” McConnaughey said. “There was a lot of slow days. It’s a lot of doing the same thing over and over, but the one thing that I had to understand was to not push it too soon. I’ve always been a person who wants to go at 100% all the time, and I had to learn quickly that that is not the case in the Tommy John process. You have to train at 85%, and you have to take it easy day by day, because if you go too hard too soon you can alter your recovery process and delay yourself.”
The Topeka, Kan., native spent time around the team, traveling to games and encouraging his teammates in the bullpen. McConnaughey said that he enjoyed helping his teammates as they helped him.
“They were super supportive for me,” McConnaughey said. “They knew, obviously, that it was a season-ending injury, and many of my best friends are still at Nebraska. They’re still playing on the team this year, so they made sure to not necessarily see me as an outlier, but also still include me on everything, which I was super grateful for. They always made sure that I was OK mentally and physically, but at the same time, they still had a job to do and that was to go out there and win ball games for the university.”
McConnaughey entered his name into the 2025 Major League Baseball draft with no expectations. He said that he received an invite to the Major League Baseball draft combine in June, where he took a physical and participated in meetings.
The Texas Rangers selected McConnaughey in the fourth round, with the 115th overall pick.
“I didn’t have a whole lot of words, I was kind of speechless,” McConnaughey said. “It all happened so fast for me, and I really did not know what to say or what to do. I was surrounded by family, I had a few friends there with me at home, and everybody else was just so excited, myself included. It was a great experience and a great day all in all.”
McConnaughey said he’ll use the lessons he learned at Nebraska as he continues his baseball career at the professional level.
“I think it was a great preparation process for me, because they preach a lot about culture and a lot about accountability, especially in professional baseball now,” McConnaughey said. “You have to have self-accountability to do your process every single day, to stay within your routine, to make sure you hold yourself accountable whether it’s nutrition, sleep, in the weight room. It’s kind of like the same thing in college, you just don’t have maybe that head coach or that pitching coach telling you or ordering you what to do.”
The 6-foot-3 pitcher said he’s in Surprise, Ariz., rehabbing at the spring training complex. He said that the recovery process is going well.
“From my time at the University of Nebraska, from the transition here to the Texas Rangers, I’ve worked with awesome people, especially at Nebraska,” McConnaughey said. “I give huge credit to (assistant athletic trainer) Tanner Fowler, I give huge credit to (assistant strength coach) Garrett Plumlee for helping me out in the weight room, helping me out in the training room, getting on top of all my recovery, all my rehab. They’ve done an amazing job. Then here with the Texas Rangers, it’s been nothing but the same. Awesome people from PTs, from strength coaches, from pitching coaches, it’s been a great transition, so I’m excited for what’s ahead.”
McConnaughey said that doctors have not told him an exact return date, but it will likely be this summer.
“I’m looking forward definitely to just playing again,” McConnaughey said. “As a pitcher, being able to just start that chess match back up, being able to go out there and compete, honestly just getting those competitive juices going, getting the adrenaline pumping again and just getting back in those types of situations when it comes to pitching and playing in a baseball game.”
The Rangers open the season at Philadelphia on Mar. 26.
