South Carolina baseball’s Hudson Lee broke his foot. He’s pitching anyway
Doctors gave Hudson Lee two options, and both hit like sucker punches to the soul.
Monday, after an ultrasound, MRI and CT scan, what Lee thought was a sprained ankle — suffered while stepping wrong trying to field a grounder during practice — was actually a heel fracture in his right foot.
Option A was for doctors to put screws in Lee’s foot and completely fix the fracture immediately. The recovery process would’ve kept him out the entire season. Option B wasn’t much better: Doctors said they could cut open his foot and remove the fractured bone, which would sideline him for seven or eight weeks.
These medical meetings are almost always devastating. Lee knows that well. During his freshman year at Wake Forest, a meeting with doctors turned into a Tommy John diagnosis and surgery that forced him to miss the whole season. A year later, he missed almost another whole season because of a nerve issue in his shoulder.
And, before playing a single game at South Carolina, another conversation about surgeries and missing seasons.
“I’m kind of used to it at this point,” said Lee, a Spartanburg native who transferred from Clemson this offseason.
This time, though, Lee offered an Option C. He asked the doctors if it was possible to delay the surgery. Could he just tape it up and keep throwing? They said it was up to him, confirming there was no risk for long-term issues if he kept pitching on it.
“(The doctor),” Lee said, ‘was kind of like, ‘Just go full at it and see if you can do it or not.’”
Doctors taped up his foot and gave him a Cortisone shot. A few hours later, the 6-foot-4, 239-pound left-hander went out to the bullpen and began firing pitches off the mound, his broken right foot planting hard on the dirt with every throw.
The first pitch was a ball, but there was no major pain or discomfort. Relief set in.
“I was just happy I was out there, honestly,” Lee said. “Just grateful I could play.”
Wednesday, in the seventh inning of what became a 12-2 win over Gardner-Webb, Lee finally tested his fractured heel in a game.
Head coach Paul Mainieri, wanting to ensure Lee didn’t have to run to the mound, called the bullpen and told Lee to get walking. Then he waited. With Lee already strolling through the outfield grass, Mainieri emerged from the dugout and signaled for his reliever.
Lee faced two batters. He struck them both out on eight total pitches.
“It shows the passion that he has for our program, for our team,” Mainieri said Thursday. “I was really proud of Hudson, and he threw really well. I think he’s a guy we can count on.”
The plan is for Lee to pitch the entire 2026 season on his broken right foot — and even when this season ends, Lee said, he might pitch during summer ball before having surgery.
In the meantime, he makes frequent visits to the trainer’s room, and wears a boot when he’s not throwing. On the days he’s scheduled to pitch, his right foot is taped up, and he adds a cushioned heel pad to his shoe to absorb some weight.
But as long as he’s able to manage the pain, he’s going to keep pitching — and, knowing that, expect Lee to keep taking the mound.
He grew up with his father, Rick, always telling him not to whine or complain, a maxim that Lee lives by. If he gets injured, he waits for the pain to subside. It’s only after prolonged pain before he tells anyone.
“I try to tough it out as long as I can,” Lee said.
While playing high school football at Dorman, Lee broke his wrist early in the year — which, naturally, wasn’t going to keep him out. So for the rest of the season, he just taped his wrist and he played defensive end and tight end with a club.
“And I think that was the best year I had in football,” he said. “So maybe that’ll happen this year.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
