January 23, 200422 yr FLORIDA MARLINS Burnett returns to mound Injured nearly nine months ago in a game against the Cardinals, pitcher A.J. Burnett tests his surgically repaired elbow in a brief session. BY CLARK SPENCER cspencer@herald.com JOE RIMKUS JR. / HERALD FILE WELCOME BACK: Pitcher A.J. Burnett has recovered from an elbow injury sustained last season. Wearing a pair of yellow Old Navy athletic shorts and a plastic mesh cap, A.J. Burnett hardly looked the part of a big-league pitcher. Save for his glove, he could have passed just as easily for a member of the work crew that spent Thursday grooming the field at Pro Player Stadium for an upcoming monster truck event. But Thursday was not just any day for Burnett. It was a landmark one. Nearly nine months to the day he walked off the mound in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Burnett climbed back up to test his surgically repaired right arm. ''Anxious more than nervous,'' was how Burnett described the experience. Thursday marked the first time since April 25 that Burnett was permitted to stand atop a mound and throw a baseball. His session was limited to five minutes, and it was estimated he threw no more than two-dozen pitches at reduced speed -- 75 to 80 percent of his normal velocity. RETURN SCHEDULE If there are no major setbacks, the Marlins are hopeful Burnett can return to the rotation by early or mid-May. Burnett is more optimistic. He said, after completing his brief workout, that ''in a perfect world'' he could be with the team when it opens the regular season April 6. ''I'm not going to push it,'' he said. ``Worst case, I miss one month.'' Burnett missed more than five months last season, making four starts before undergoing ''Tommy John'' surgery to repair a fully torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He could only watch from the dugout as the Marlins made their playoff push and went on to win the World Series. ''That was one of the hardest things I've watched in my entire life,'' said Burnett, who was happy for his teammates but dispirited about not playing a role in it. Burnett has gradually worked his arm back into shape. A few months ago, he began to throw more strenuously in supervised flat-ground sessions. The mound came Thursday. CLOSED PRACTICE The Marlins, fearful that Burnett might try to overthrow if photographers and cameramen were on hand to document the event, banned all members of the media from the trial run. Two reporters who had sneaked into the press box, which is located more than 200 yards from the bullpen where Burnett worked out, were spotted by security and escorted to a tunnel beneath the stadium. ''I could have probably let it go,'' Burnett said of his urge to apply some extra steam to his pitches. ``But I was nice and easy.'' Pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal was pleased with Burnett's workout, in which the pitcher threw nothing but fastballs and changeups. Breaking balls will come later. ''I was impressed with the way he threw,'' Rosenthal said. ``He's itching to get back, but he has to introduce himself to the mound again.'' As long as there's no unusual soreness, the schedule calls for Burnett to return to the mound for a six-minute session Monday, followed by increasingly longer twice-a-week outings before spring training. Nice to see hes coming along nicely. I hope the Marlins take the cautionary route and dont bring him back to at least May. Article
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