By Rob Rains
When Johnny Adams was planning to move to Jupiter, Fla., earlier this year, he called an old childhood friend, a baseball player who he knew lived in the area.
The reason Adams called Packy Naughton, however, had nothing to do with Naughton’s status as a pitcher in the Cardinals’ organization.
Adams was calling because of Naughton’s second job – as a real estate agent.
Naughton has been juggling the two usually full-time careers for the past year, deciding to become a real estate agent when he knew he was facing a long rehab from a second elbow operation in 13 months.
“I knew I was going to be down here for a full year rehabbing, and I wanted to do something else,” Naughton said. “I figured I would try my hand at this and it’s turned out great and I love it.
Adams played in Little League against Naughton when the two were growing up in the Boston area. They played against each other in college, when Naughton was at Virginia Tech and Adams at Boston College, and spent one summer as roommates when they played in the Cape Cod League.
The two have stayed in touch and while Adams knows that balancing both jobs is unconventional, he is not surprised by what his friend is doing.
“If there’s a guy who can do it, it’s definitely Packy with his work ethic and willingness to go out and want to do the best at whatever he is doing,” Adams said.
When Naughton joined the Cardinals in 2022 and then made the opening day roster in 2023, the idea that the left-handed pitcher would be selling houses two years later would not have been something visible on Naughton’s radar.
Two pitches, followed by two surgeries
On April 7, 2023 – nine days before his 27th birthday – Naughton came out of the Cardinals bullpen in the eighth inning of a game in Milwaukee, his fourth appearance in the first week of the season.
Naughton retired the first two hitters he faced, Brice Turang and Joey Wiemer, bringing Christian Yelich to the plate. With a 3-2 count, Naughton threw a slider. He has not thrown a pitch in the majors since.
As he walked off the mound with a trainer, Naughton did not know the severity of the injury, which turned out to be a torn flexor tendon in his left arm. He underwent season-ending surgery in June.
Naughton was back on the mound pitching less than a year later, but his optimism of getting back to the majors in 2024 was short-lived. After making rehab appearances in the rookie Complex League and for the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals, Naughton moved up to Triple A Memphis and was pitching in a game on July 5 in Nashville – against the Brewers’ Triple A affiliate – when he got hurt again.
Naughton re-tore his tendon, only this time he also tore ligaments in his elbow which required Tommy John surgery. Not only was his 2024 season over, Naughton soon was told he would not be pitching in 2025 either.
“After it popped again, I was like, ‘Who knows what happened?’” Naughton said. “I got the MRIs and it was torn again. After the first surgery I was back competing in less than 11 months but Dr. (George) Paletta told me, ‘I don’t want you playing next year (2025), it’s not worth it.’ He said if everything goes perfect I could be back in 13 months but why come back in September and risk anything. It was better to ease back into spring training (in 2026) and be good to go.”
Facing another full year of rehabbing was not exactly something Naughton was looking forward to, and that was when the idea of becoming a real estate agent was born.
Naughton had purchased a house in Jupiter a couple of years earlier and enjoyed the process. He reached out to the company he had worked with, and the owners offered encouragement – and the prospect of a job after he passed the real estate test and became a licensed agent.
The idea of having his focus be about something other than the tedious months of rehab was appealing to Naughton.
“Coming back that fast after the first surgery all I thought about was baseball,” Naughton said. “I obsessed about baseball, and still do, but with this injury time is what’s important for the healing, especially after it had popped twice. We had to make sure we were giving it enough time so I wasn’t just baseball, baseball, baseball.
“I knew I was missing all of 2025 and I knew I needed to do something that wasn’t going to drive me crazy being in south Florida during the summer.”
In the first month following surgery, with his arm in a sling, Naughton began taking the 63-hour training class that led up to the test he had to pass to obtain his real estate license.
“I started while I was sitting on my couch with my arm in a sling and a brace when I wasn’t able to do much for about a month so that kind of took the place of baseball,” he said.
As he completed the course and prepared to take the test, it almost seemed to Naughton as if he was heading back out to the mound, experiencing that same nervous feeling.
“It was kind of like I was competing again,” he said. “I kind of told myself, ‘OK this is the bottom of the ninth and I’ve got to get a couple of outs here.’
“I’m usually one of those people who is going to change my answer three or four times and second guess myself. Going into the test I was like, ‘Nope, you know it. Just put down what your heart says,’ and it worked out.”
Naughton learned just after finishing the hour-long test that he had passed – a feeling similar to walking off the mound after a victory.
He soon found himself walking into the office of Stone Thompson Luxury Group at Illustrated Properties as a licensed agent.
“There is a bit of a learning curve but luckily I have a couple of amazing bosses in Jill Stone and David Thompson who have been absolutely incredible in allowing me to kind of do what I want, what’s necessary and what I need to do,” Naughton said. “They have let me balance baseball with it, which has been great.”
Juggling two careers
During the summer of 2025, there were several pitchers rehabbing from surgery at the Cardinals complex in Jupiter, and for all but one of them – Naughton – their work in the training room, the weight room and on the field was all that was on their minds.
As he was going through his rehab, minor leaguer Andrew Dutkanych IV marveled at how Naughton was doing the two jobs at the same time.
“I remember him saying something like, ‘it’s crazy. I have real clients who depend on me,’” Dutkanych said.
Naughton said that as he began his real estate work, he emphasized to his new bosses that baseball remained his top priority and he made certain the Cardinals understood that as well.
“I have had a couple of times where I’ve gotten some messages while I was at the field that needed to be responded to, or I had to make a quick call or send a text to handle it,” he said. “The good thing about my bosses is that they understand when I am at the field baseball is number one regardless. If I might need some help to meet somebody or go unlock a door or go to an inspection, they have been amazing.”
Naughton said he helped the Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley and Lars Nootbaar with their spring training housing and is now working with a current major-leaguer who is going through the home-buying process. He also has offered guidance to staff members and coaches about the business when they came to him with questions.
“I show up every day and give 110 percent,” he said. “It’s not like I am making calls from the gym or saying I have to leave an hour early to go do this. They know baseball is the priority and I made that very clear to them.”
The advice that Naughton has offered to players like Dutkanych is usually more about baseball than real estate.
“It’s always good to be around guys who actually have pitched in the big leagues,” Dutkanych said. “They understand a lot of different things better than you do. Nothing is new to them.
“Understanding what you are feeling, what’s normal, understanding where your head is, understanding when to put your foot on the gas a little bit in the weight room and maybe when to take your foot off the gas a little bit … that kind of thing.
“It’s good to hear stories about the big leagues. It’s proof that it’s possible.”
Checking one last box
While Naughton has proven that it’s possible to juggle the two careers, he is looking ahead to the day when baseball can become more of a full-time job with the real estate business moving more into the background for the time being.
That box is being able to throw breaking balls; so far Naughton has only thrown fastballs and changeups.
Even though he signed a two-year contract, Naughton still would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December if he is not added to the Cardinals’ 40-man roster. The deadline for that to happen is Nov. 18.
“I try not to concern myself with that because I know that when I am healthy and when I am at my best I know I am plenty good to compete in the big leagues,” Naughton said. “If that’s with the Cardinals great or with another team that takes me, also great.
“I just want go get back and be healthy and show I can stay healthy.”
Naughton is realistic, however, and knows no one can predict the future. After undergoing his first Tommy John surgery in 2013 when he was still in high school, he is well aware of the fact that injuries are always a possible risk for pitchers.
“After going through this a couple of times, you know that you are healthy,” he said. “Dr. Paletta did his job, now I’ve done mine. I know I didn’t rush anything, and I am going to come back fully healthy and ready to go. You’ve just got to trust it and that’s hard to do at times.
“I am on my third elbow surgery. I understand the writing on the wall. I know I am still plenty good and I know I will be in the big leagues, but if it happens again, God’s plan is God’s plan, and I have a plan as well.”
Naughton’s support system includes his wife Taylor, whom he married a couple of weeks ago, and his parents.
“That has made everything not easy, but much more doable than if I was going through it by myself,” Naughton said.
Many baseball players finish their career and really don’t have a plan about what they will do next. That is no longer something Naughton has to worry or think about.
“Hopefully he will still get to play baseball for a long time, but he definitely has a plan for afterwards,” Dutkanych said.
Until that time comes, Naughton will spend the real estate part of his day helping out people like Adams, who spent three years playing in the Mariners system before getting into coaching.
“He has the same mindset and perspective from baseball and has put that into the real estate business,” Adams said. “It’s nice to see he takes that much pride in something outside of baseball. I don’t think that many players look that far ahead. He found an avenue and took advantage of the opportunity, which is great to see. He definitely helped me through the process and made everything simple.”
What is next on Naughton’s to-do list, however, is getting back on the mound for the Cardinals. He has one specific goal in mind.
“All I want to do is pitch against Milwaukee,” he said. “I need my revenge.”
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