Reliever Lowe ready for another chance
The news delivered to Mark Lowe as he lay groggy in a hospital bed last October could hardly have been worse.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum told the Mariners relief pitcher that the elbow he'd operated on the day before was in bad shape. There was bone rubbing on bone and not nearly the amount of cartilage Yocum had hoped to find when he'd agreed to attempt a surgery rarely performed on pitchers.
Yocum had used an arthroscopic procedure to help grow back missing cartilage in Lowe's right elbow by poking tiny holes in the bone to create blood flow. It was already a crapshoot that the so-called "microfracture surgery" would work even before Lowe went under, so Yocum had braced the pitcher not to get his hopes up.
"He just said, 'You might not pitch again,' " Lowe said. "That was hard to swallow, but that was reality. That was one of the things I needed to hear, because my whole baseball career has been spent proving people wrong."
About the rehab:
There were tough times during his rehab as well. Lowe was banned from throwing, so all he could do from November through January was have team trainers work at loosening the arm.
"For the longest time, I'd go in and they'd stretch it, which hurt really, really bad," Lowe said. "I'd sit there and they'd try to stretch it out. They'd pump it to get the swelling out. Ice it, stimulate it. Over and over and over for the entire offseason, three times a day."
Lowe dubbed the experience "Groundhog Day," and those closest to him marveled at how he stayed sane. When spring training arrived in February, Lowe underwent a second arthroscopic surgery to clean out scar tissue and increase the arm's mobility.
Mariners closer J.J. Putz, recovering from an elbow problem of his own, looked at Lowe in the training room and asked: "How are you standing this? I've only had this a few days and I'm going crazy."
About where he is right now:
Lowe reached a point of no return a few weeks ago. He'd been playing catch but his shoulder felt lousy and his mechanics were off. He figured he was compensating, fearful of reinjuring the elbow.
"I finally got to the point where I figured I wasn't getting anything from this," he said. "I was going to have to put some stress on the elbow. If it was going to get hurt again, I had to let it happen."
Lowe opened up more on his throws and the elbow felt better. His velocity still is about 10 mph off last year's peak, though his coaches hope it gradually returns. No one can guarantee him any of this will last. And Lowe isn't seeking guarantees, only another chance.
For now, he has one.
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