On Friday, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson, who had surgery to repair his partially torn labrum, shoulder capsule and rotator cuff in September, said he is encouraged after a recent visit with specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
"It was really good," Nelson said of his visit, according to the team's website. "[The doctor] was extremely happy and pleased with the way those three main repairs are healing. He made it pretty clear that this is the hardest part of this whole process, those [structures] actually healing.
"... Now that they're healed, he's very confident that that's not going to change throughout the rest of this process. That's a big sigh of relief there."
Nelson had been throwing from 150 feet, but he had recently been feeling some discomfort. He said ElAttrache told him it was nothing to be concerned about.
"When you're on the DL and you start feeling an ache or pain, as an athlete or a person, period, your knee-jerk reaction is to start filing through scenarios in your head," Nelson said. "Obviously, worst-case scenario is he would have had to go back in there to clean something up. That wasn't even an idea he threw out there. He was plenty pleased with how well it had healed and how strong it was."
Nelson will rest for 10 days before throwing again. His return date still is unknown, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the team will try to be more patient.
"He got ahead of schedule, and we were trying to figure out days," Counsell said. "We've got to back off that a little bit and just let him get better."
Nelson, 29, went 12-6 and led the team with a 3.49 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 175⅓ innings before his surgery last season.