Meche is no longer damaged goods

www.heraldnet.com Published: Friday, February 28, 2003 By Kirby Arnold Herald Writer

PEORIA, Ariz. - Gil Meche isn't trying to come back any more. The way he sees it, he already is back.

It has been almost three years since Meche threw a meaningful pitch for the Seattle Mariners. He suffered through a period of shoulder pain and two surgeries that tested his confidence and threatened to peel away the label that said he was a can't-miss prospect.

Now, the 24-year-old right-hander is ready to resume the portion of his career that everyone expected from the beginning.

A winter retreat to Venezuela, where he played for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League, brought back the zip on his fastball, the sharp break on his curveball and the biggest element of all: his confidence.

"My last two starts in Venezuela were probably just as good as anything I've done," Meche said. "My curveball was back, which I haven't had in a couple of years. Velocity-wise, I was pretty much the same as I was when I was called up."

Thursday brought another step in the process: Meche's first start of spring training in the Mariners' 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres in their exhibition opener.

Meche's numbers were nothing to brag about - six hits and three runs in two innings - but truth in spring training performances lies underneath statistics.

"I thought he was great," pitching coach Bryan Price said. "He had a live fastball and I was extremely pleased with his changeup. He's showing the shape of four quality pitches and I couldn't care less about the numbers."

It's been a while since Meche came to spring training with this much to gain and feeling this good about his chances.

"There's nothing I'm worried about in camp," said Meche, who is competing for the one opening in the starting rotation with Jamey Wright, Ken Cloude and Rafael Soriano. "I feel strong. It's totally opposite of how I was at the beginning of last year. I feel like I could throw all day."

Price has noticed the difference and attributes it to one important element.

"It's because he's healthy," Price said.

Finally.

Meche progressed steadily through the Mariners' system - including a summer with the Everett AquaSox in 1997 - after they drafted him in the first round in 1996.

He made it to the majors in 1999, when the Mariners called him up in July and he went 8-4 in 15 starts. Meche started the 2000 season in the rotation and made another 15 starts, although they became more painful as time went on.

He went on the disabled list with a strained shoulder, but came back from that and pitched well. The pain returned, however, and he nursed himself back onto the mound for a late-August rehab appearance in Everett that sealed his fate.

He struggled to get through one inning, was shut down for the year and, after pain persisted during the winter, had surgery the following February to repair a partially frayed rotator cuff. Nine months later, amid continuing pain, he underwent exploratory surgery.

After another year of rehab, Meche pitched again last season at Class AA San Antonio and finally made progress. He finished just 4-6 with a 6.51 ERA, but steadily improved.

The Mariners sent him to winter ball in Venezuela late last year, and it all came together.

"The second start he made was the telltale point for me," said Dan Rohn, manager of the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers who managed the Lara team. "When I saw his velocity come back and the sharpness on his breaking ball come back, I knew he was locked in."

The difference?

"He didn't hurt anymore," Rohn said.

Meche made five starts in Venezuela and went 2-1 with a 3.54 earned run average before he pulled a muscle while lifting weights. In that time, Meche realized he could pitch again without pain, something he battled through much of his rehab.

"Always before, he wasn't feeling that his injury was going away," Price said. "That's part of the rehabilitation process, but you have to have the confidence in the back of your mind that it is going to get better. My point to him was that it's going to get better or it's going to get worse, but it won't stay the same."

It has gotten better, and Meche is pitching now like the Mariners always believed he could.

He was knocked around a little Thursday, although two of the Padres' hits were swinging-bunt dribblers and one was a seeing-eye grounder that barely eluded shortstop Mark McLemore's glove.

"At this point in camp, I feel really good," Meche said. "I know my arm's only going to get stronger as we go on. I feel real good right now."

It has been almost three years since he's been able to say that.