Speedy recovery helps pitcher to a good start

Willy Kesler doesn't have a shaman or a hyperbaric chamber.

But he has modern medicine. And modern medicine has given the resilient right-hander an 0-2 count.

Kesler, who made his first start in a 15-7 win over Texas Tech on Wednesday, has quickly healed from what doctors call ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction. To baseball players and those without medical degrees, the procedure is simply called Tommy John surgery.

The procedure, which was pioneered by Frank Jobe 35 years ago, calls for a tendon to be taken from the patient's wrists or hamstring, grafted into the elbow and woven through drilled holes in the humerus and ulna.

Typically, the standard recovery time varies from as early as a year to 18 months. After having the surgery performed on May 15, 2008, Kesler rehabbed and made a speedy recovery. His first appearance of the season came on March 22 - about 10 months after he had the procedure.

"Everyone's different," he said. "You look at John Smoltz. He was back even earlier than I was. Then there's guys that I played that were back at 13 months. It was the initial three months that helped me. I was in the weight room all the time."

His first start came only nine days after that - on Wednesday against Texas Tech, when he went three innings, giving up five hits and two runs. He threw 49 pitches, 29 of which were strikes.

"For the weather on a day like this, it felt pretty good out there," Kesler said.

"I'd like to throw more (strikes). You're taught to go out there and throw as many strikes as you can. That was my main goal. I didn't care about velocity (or) what happened."

On March 29, 2008, Kesler had an emergency appendectomy surgery. During the gap between the procedure to remove his appendix and when he underwent the Tommy John surgery, Kesler experienced soreness in his arm. As a precaution, his elbow was examined and it was revealed that the right-hander would need the surgery.

Kesler said getting the zip back in his pitches will be a process.

"I've been told the velocity doesn't come back until the 18th month," he said. "I'm only on 11 right now."

Still, on Wednesday, Kesler gassed a 91-mph pitch at least once against the Red Raiders. Birmingham said a healthy Kesler will add another dimension to the Lobos' pitching rotation.

"I think he touched the nine-zero," Birmingham said. "That's encouraging. There's 95 in there. I think if he'd have been healthy last year, we'd have been Mountain West Conference champs and in a regional."

Instead, Kesler said he's most concerned with hurdling worries about re-injuring his arm, thoughts that preoccupy him from time to time.

But it doesn't appear that he has much to worry about. Of all the documented cases of major leaguers who had the surgery, only two have required the procedure twice. Tampa Bay reliever Lance Davis had it in 1996 and 2000. Los Angeles starter Darren Dreifort had it July 2001 and March 1995, according to USA Today.

"You know you're not going to hurt it again," Kesler said. "But still in the back of the head, you're, 'Well, if I throw this, there's a chance,' even though there really isn't. Being able to overcome the mental side is the biggest thing."

Last year, Kesler was 4-0 and posted an ERA of 1.90 before being sidelined. Catcher Adam Courcha, who was 2-of-4 with two RBIs against the Red Raiders on Wednesday, said if Kesler can be anywhere near the level he was last year, the Lobos will be in good shape.

"It's great to see Willy back on the mound," he said. "I don't think he slept for three days. He was that excited. He came out and threw strikes, and that's what we needed from him."

If the Lobos are going to play for May, everybody needs to perform in their niches. And things appear to be coming together, Birmingham said.

"We have some tired arms," he said. "And when you have tired arms, everybody picks up each other."

Kesler was spelled in the fourth by Ryan Escarcega. Escarcega earned the win, improving to 1-1 on the season, after being relegated to the bullpen. Escarcega has only started one other game since making his first start in a 13-3 opening-season loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in which he gave up five hits and six runs.

In relief work on Wednesday, Escarcega only gave up three hits and no runs in 3 2/3 innings of work.

"Ryan was in my doghouse," Birmingham said. "I wanted him to be a foot soldier - be a guy that would go attack the hill. He did that today. There's a kid that I have been hard on. There's been times where he's backed into the closet or hid under the bed. Today, he came to the dugout and stared at me. I went over and hugged him. There was a 93-mile-an-hour arm that needed a bulldog heart."

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