Major League Baseball

Mariners' Kelley coming back from elbow surgery

Published Mar. 2, 2011 6:16 p.m. ET

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Maybe someday in the future Shawn Kelley will get his surgery named after him.

For now, he'll gladly just let his elbow surgery last fall be known as a ''modified Tommy John'' that without any setbacks will get him back on the mound much sooner than most who need ligament surgery in their pitching elbow.

''As far as the rehab and the training room and all that stuff, that was treated no different than a normal Tommy John, like when I had the Tommy John surgery,'' Kelley said. ''What's different now is the throwing program will progress a lot faster.''

The Seattle Mariners reliever is in the midst of a difficult comeback from the second elbow surgery of his career. But the challenge isn't whether he'll be able to regain the mid-90s fastball or a nasty slider that helped him make the team two years ago as a non-roster invitee.

It's trying to hold back when his surgically repaired right arm feels so good.

''I'm just like, 'let's crank this thing up and see whether I'm ready or not.' But I can't. The last thing I want to do is be back to where I am now,'' Kelley said. ''It's tough. But I go out and I have a plan of what I want to accomplish that day, the intensity I want to throw at and I just stay at that level and don't let myself get too excited.''

Two years ago, Kelley made an unlikely major league debut, earning a spot on the Mariners roster thanks to that mid-90s fastball and biting slider. He didn't allow a run in his first six appearances in the majors. He was on the way to a stellar rookie season before a strained oblique muscle put him on the disabled list.

Feeling he needed to get back on the mound immediately, Kelley now says he likely returned too soon and struggled the remainder of the season.

Learning from that experience, Kelley was honest with the Mariners medical staff last June when that all-to-familiar discomfort first showed up in Kelley's right elbow. It was reminiscent of Kelley's freshman year at Austin Peay when as a teenager he needed a full Tommy John procedure to continue his baseball career as a pitcher.

All the rehab work that didn't involve surgery failed to solve Kelley's discomfort. When he went in for surgery on Sept. 1, Kelley knew he was likely facing a procedure that could cost him more than a year of pitching.

What doctors found was pleasantly surprising.

The ligament in his right elbow that was previously repaired was fine. What doctors found was some fraying and wearing at another spot in his elbow. That damage was fixed and Kelley was given a new prognosis. Instead of seeing the mound again in 2012, Kelley could be throwing from a mound by the end of spring training.

Kelley's rehab followed a similar track as his Tommy John procedure. For the first four months, Kelley was constantly in the gym, spending a few hours each day just building strength back in his elbow, then spending a couple more hours with his usual offseason conditioning program.

Trainer Rick Griffin started Kelley on a throwing program Feb. 1 with a goal of being back on the mound sometime around June. So far, Kelley has thrown only from flat ground and with strict limitations. He goes through the same fundamental drills as his teammates, but when it comes time to make that extra throw over to first base during pitchers fielding practice, Kelley only goes through the motions.

He's hoping that will change soon.

''It'll just continue to increase, increase the time a little bit, increase the distance and little by little hopefully in a few weeks here I'll be getting up on the mound a bit, or at least throw to a catcher down and be working toward a bullpen at some point,'' Kelley said.

Along with trying to overcome his injury, Kelley is also trying to impress a new coaching staff. Kelley hasn't forgotten his unlikely arrival in the majors two years ago after never pitching higher than Double-A.

But he's not going to be careless with something as important as his pitching arm.

''I know how important this is and I know what this means, which is what I want to do,'' Kelley said. ''Now that I've had a taste of what this is like, this is what I want to do for a while. I'm not going to jeopardize that in any way or rush it.''

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