Tampa Bay’s Rocco Baldelli, who has battled metabolic mitochondrial disorder for months but has gotten steadily stronger, will be in the Rays’ starting lineup at some point during their series against the Red Sox.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rocco Baldelli has no idea when his baseball career will end. What the 27-year-old Rhode Island native does know is that it won’t end this year.

That wasn’t the case earlier this year during spring training, when he was diagnosed with a metabolic mitochondrial disorder, which causes severe fatigue and muscle cramping. There were days — plenty of them — when he couldn’t run, hit or throw.

It got so bad that he actually thought his baseball career was over.

When the Tampa Bay Rays take the field here against the Red Sox for Game One of the American League Championship Series tomorrow night, Baldelli will not only be in uniform, but he’ll be in the starting lineup at some point during the series.

No question that Baldelli’s story is one set for a Hollywood script. He has inspired the Rays during their magical season, one that he and his teammates thought might not be possible.

“He can have a potential blowout every time he puts his cleats on,” said teammate and good friend Jonny Gomes. “But he still puts them on every single day. I wasn’t alone [thinking he would never play again]. This guy was in bad shape. It was very easy to write him off, but he didn’t allow that to happen. This guy is a warrior. He’s bounced back and now he’s helping this team go to the World Series from the operating table.”

The lowest point for Baldelli was during spring training. A naturally gifted athlete, he couldn’t perform normal daily baseball activities. He couldn’t take batting practice. He couldn’t even play catch without his body failing him. The fatigue was just too much to handle and it got so bad that his body wasn’t responding very well.

The moment of truth came on March 12.

It was then, during spring training, that he, and the Rays, decided to put his baseball career on hold and focus on his health. He was placed on the disabled list indefinitely and thought he might not play again. He said yesterday that was the lowest point of his career, to discuss the situation publicly.

The real moment of truth came on Aug. 10 when he returned to the Rays’ lineup for the first time in over a year.

“I didn’t think I would be playing at this point,” he said yesterday in the home clubhouse at Tropicana Field. “I was hoping I would be, but I didn’t know.”

He never once took this game or his health for granted, and now he’s enjoying numerous high points.

“There have been a lot of different high points,” he said. “We played a lot of games where I said, ‘That’s the best baseball game I’ve ever been a part of.’ And we’ve probably done that 10 times since I’ve been here in the last six weeks. It’s been a lot of fun since I’ve [been back].”

Baldelli has been very gracious while being forced to face all the questions, almost daily, regarding his health. During it all, he’s not focusing on the past but looking to the future.

In a sense, Baldelli is similar to Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester.

Lester was diagnosed with cancer during the 2006 season; he beat the disease to become one of the game’s elite left-handed pitchers. Time and again he would say he didn’t want to discuss the matter and just wanted to be considered a baseball player.

His story stood front and center during the 2007 World Series, in which he won Game Four to lead the Red Sox to a sweep of the Rockies.

Baldelli has tried to handle his cause in similar fashion.

“You want to get to a point where you’re past that and don’t have to discuss that anymore,” he said. “That’s a tough thing to do. Maybe you get to that point, and maybe you don’t.”

Gomes has known Baldelli since 2001 and the two became close when they started playing together at Class-A Bakersfield in 2002. They played through the minor-league ranks in the organization and both made their major-league debuts in 2003.

If there’s anyone outside of Baldelli’s family who knows Rocco the best, it’s Gomes.

“I don’t think people understand just how bad his situation was,” he said. “It really would have been a shame for the game and this organization to not have a guy like him in a big-league uniform due to health problems.”

Gomes said he would try to keep Baldelli’s spirits positive. Gomes told him to not give up. Baldelli had no intention to quit, though because of an assortment of injuries, he had been limited to 127 games in the three previous seasons in Tampa.

“Most people would have cashed it in,” Gomes said. “It just shows his character and his love for the game. Talk about dealing with adversity. This guy almost had to cash in a big-league career, a career that you bleed, kick and sweat for since you’re six years old. And for him to come back is just awesome and gives these other guys in this clubhouse reason to keep scratching.”

Not only has he been an inspiration for the Rays, but he’s also been a big contributor on the field, too, especially in the recent ALDS against the White Sox.

“That’s all I wanted in the first place,” Baldelli said. “My goal was to get back and contribute to what was going on here. I would sit in the dugout and watch everything that was happening, and I knew, more than anything, that I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to feel like I was actually a part of it, instead of looking in from the outside. I feel like I’ve done that.”

He was able to return sooner than originally thought.

Baldelli was examined by more doctors and experts than he’d like to count. He’s tried many different medications and dealt with setback after setback, including an infection in his leg due to a muscle biopsy.

“We looked for a common denominator between what everyone was saying and tried some different medications,” he explained. “One, or a series of them, has proven to help. I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is specifically, but a combination of everything has gotten me to this point.”

Rays manager Joe Maddon was peppered with questions yesterday, regarding his club’s starting rotation for the ALCS and how he thought it matched up against the Red Sox. He answered everyone in depth, but when he was asked how the inspiration that Baldelli has provided this season — a question he’s asked almost as much as the player himself — the skipper made sure to give the player his due.

“He makes you look at the fact that if you stick to something, and you really apply yourself and keep believing, you can get something done,” Maddon said. “Rocco being a part of this is very special to the Rays organization. He’s such an integral part of this group for many years. The abnormality he’s had to overcome to get to this point, and the work it has taken for him to get here, it typifies our entire season. We’re like Rocco, we’ve worked very hard and we’ve overcome a lot of adversity.”

If the Rays happen to win the World Series this season, some might think Baldelli should go out on top and focus on his health. He’s not one of those people. He believes, and wants, to continue to play as long as he possibly can.

“It’s really important to me, and for us, that he takes part in this,” Maddon said. “It’s a great story for baseball.”

jmcdonal@projo.com