Major League Baseball

Cards' Motte tweets 'birthday' greetings to his repaired elbow

Published May. 8, 2014 10:25 a.m. ET

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ST. LOUIS -- The one-year anniversary of St. Louis reliever Jason Motte's Tommy John surgery might have passed Wednesday unnoticed by Cardinal Nation, but not by the name himself.

Late Wednesday night, @JMotte30 sent out his own "birthday" wish on Twitter:

If you know Motte, you know he was having a little fun. He doesn't take himself seriously enough to truly be upset that his surgery was overlooked.

Motte should be feeling good these days. His fastball has been timed at 95 mph in his rehab assignment at Double-A Springfield. Even given the high success rate of successfully returning from Tommy John surgery, to be throwing with that kind of velocity less than a year later borders on remarkable.

Motte's first two rehab outings have been downright dominant. He struck out the side on 13 pitches in his first appearance Sunday and needed only six pitches to get through an inning of work Tuesday.

Perhaps all that remains before he's ready to return to the Cardinals is pitching on consecutive days. He has said throughout his recovery that when he returns, he wants to be available whenever the bullpen phone rings. Motte is traveling with Springfield for a four-game series at Northwest Arkansas that begins Thursday.

His return to the Cardinals is close enough that his wife, Caitlin, has traveled back to the family's home in Memphis, Tenn., from Jupiter, Fla., but has not bothered to unpack. She's not sure where she'll be heading or when she'll be heading there.

"It's kind of crazy living out of a suitcase in your own home," she said Wednesday night.

You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @stanmcneal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.

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