| SAN DIEGO -- Woody Williams rejoined the San Diego Padres on
Monday, 2½ weeks after having surgery to repair an aneurysm in his
right armpit, and said he'd like to be pitching again sometime
around the All-Star break.
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| Williams |
Both Williams and trainer Todd Hutcheson said mid-July is a
realistic goal because the aneurysm was repaired without needing an
arterial graft.
"Who's to say it can't be quicker, who's to say it might be
longer?" Williams said after taking grounders at third base during
batting practice before the Padres played the New York Mets.
"But that's a fair amount of time. My body usually heals up
pretty quick and I'm able to bounce back a lot of times, a lot
better than some people, I guess," he said. "I just want to get
back as soon as I can, as safe as I can."
When the aneurysm was diagnosed May 2, the Padres compared it
to when New York Yankees pitcher David Cone had an aneurysm
surgically repaired in 1996. But Cone needed a graft to repair his
aneurysm while Williams did not.
In Cone's case, the artery needed longer to heal because of the
graft, Hutcheson said. Cone was out that year from May until early
September, then no-hit the Oakland Athletics for seven innings in
his first start back.
"They were able to suture Woody's artery together and
basically, shortly after the surgery, they said the artery was
healed," Hutcheson said. "It was just a matter of getting the
wound to heal and getting the muscle strong again and seeing how
that went."
Williams began his rehabilitation Monday and might be able to
begin throwing in two to three weeks.
The right-hander should be able to build his strength back
quickly in his shoulder, but the key will be the circulation in his
hand, Hutcheson said. Before the aneurysm was discovered, Williams
complained that his fingers turned numb and cold when he pitched.
"We really won't know until he starts chucking again and see
how his hand reacts," Hutcheson said.
Besides some tightness, his shoulder feels good, Williams said.
"To me it's more serious because you're talking about my life,
my hand, but at the same time, coming back from it, I don't think
it's going to be as serious as a regular arthroscopic surgery on
the shoulder. They didn't have to cut muscle or a tendon or
anything like that. It's doing better than expected."
Since having surgery May 4, Williams has been resting at his
Houston home. | |
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