Last July, White Sox starter Jake Peavy had to have surgery to re-attach a torn lat muscle that had detached from where it was supposed to be in his shoulder. It was a radical operation, but it worked, and just Wednesday Peavy made his return to the White Sox rotation, even after experiencing some problems during the spring. Facing the Angels, he threw six innings, allowing four runs while striking out four and not walking anybody.
But while Peavy's back - and while that's exciting enough - he's not yet back to being himself. Writes Daryl Van Schouwen:
To recover fully from surgery to re-attach a torn lat muscle, doctors told him to be patient -- it will take 12-18 months.
"I’m about 80 percent of what I was when I was in San Diego,’’ said Peavy, who won a Cy Young Award with the Padres in 2007.
The bad news is that Peavy isn't pitching at 100%, even after all this time. The good news, though, is that he should in theory only get stronger as the season progresses and he puts more distance between himself and his operation. Where most pitchers tend to wear down over the course of the summer, Peavy may get better, and if all goes according to plan he could be setting himself up for a big 2012.