JUPITER, Fla. -- Trevor Hutchinson was going through drills on the back fields of Roger Dean Stadium when the Marlins drafted pitcher Brett Sinkbeil in the first round of Tuesday's First-Year Player Draft.

The pitching-rich franchise traditionally leans toward compiling as many arms as possible for its Minor League system.

 

It wasn't long ago when Hutchinson was regarded as the franchise's top pitching prospect.

 

The Marlins picked Hutchinson in the third round of the 2002 draft, the same year they made outfielder Jeremy Hermida their top pick. By 2004, the right-hander was on the fast track to the big leagues.

 

But in March of 2005, Hutchinson's rise was set back by a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. After Dr. James Andrews performed surgery in Birmingham, Ala., the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder sat out the entire season.

 

His road to recovery has taken him to a place where he has excelled in the past. Hutchinson, 26, is again pitching for the Class A Jupiter Hammerheads. In 2003, he dominated there, going 9-2 with a 2.77 ERA before the organization promoted him to Double-A Carolina for the rest of the season.

 

So far, Hutchinson has enjoyed similar results. He is 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA this season. In 11 games, including six starts, he has thrown 42 2/3 innings, striking out 33 and walking nine.

 

"I look back and want to say my injury happened at the wrong time," said Hutchinson, the brother of NFL quarterback Chad Hutchinson. "But it is what it is. I'm actually thankful that it happened because I think I'm a completely different pitcher now than I was before. I have more confidence in everything I'm doing. Things actually matter to me more, because with the injury you get older and you start appreciating the game. You wonder if you are going to come back or not."

 

Before the injury, Hutchinson was throwing in the 93-95 mph range. He says he is now being clocked between 88 and 90 mph and can feel his strength and velocity building with each outing.

 

Hutchinson is also aware of his position in the organization. The Marlins have accumulated plenty of young pitching, and he knows an opportunity to get called up to the big leagues this season may be remote.

 

Looking objectively at his situation makes it easier for him to be back in Class A three years after he left it.

 

"When I first came here [this spring], I was thinking, 'I've done this, I've conquered this," Hutchinson said. "So why can't I just go do it again?' That mentality got me nowhere because I put a lot of pressure on myself. Now I look at it as this is a year that I'm going to take it for what it is. If I make it to the big leagues, great. If I don't, I'm going to use this year to improve.

 

"I'm sort of looking to next year," he added. "Next year is going to be my year where I come back full-strength, and not the year I came back from the DL. This year, I haven't put as much pressure on myself. But when I start doing better, that kind of changes."

 

His main objective now is staying healthy.

 

When he visited Dr. Andrews in 2005, he believed he was going to have a scope to clean up his shoulder. Instead, he learned that 90 percent of his rotator cuff was torn. So instead of missing five months, Hutchinson lost the entire season.

 

He has started games in Jupiter to give him a chance to build up innings and arm strength. But his path to the big leagues may ultimately be as a reliever.

 

"I don't really care," Hutchinson said of whether he starts or relieves. "I'll do whatever it takes, to be honest. Right now, I enjoy starting because I'm coming off an injury and you need the innings to build your pitches back and get the atmosphere. But if or when I get called up, I could care less. We have a lot of talent in this organization, so in a way, I have to be patient and see what happens.

 

"It's different when you are in the big leagues and you have an injury," he added. "There you know what you've done, and when you return, you're back in the big leagues. I haven't made it. So you sort of question your stuff and whether you can come back, or if you want to come back. It gets through that whole mental barrier where you know you can do it. I think I benefited a lot from it."

 

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good read

He's looked great so far in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Hutch pitched a beauty on Wednesday -- 7 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 1 BB, 8 K's. He looked fantastic.