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PHOENIX -- If it's possible to have a successful rehab story before the first live batting practice session of the spring, Ben Sheets is it. The former Brewers ace is now with the A's, feeling as good as ever and penciled in to start Opening Day.Sheets, who has thrown two bullpen sessions in camp with his new team, said everything is feeling "great" now.
Truth to be told, he wasn't sure that he'd ever feel this way again, or that he'd ever have a chance to throw another major league pitch.
"If you arm hurts, you don't know if you are ever going to get back," Sheets told FanHouse. "Last year, I didn't know which route it was going."
Sheets, who had flexor tendon surgery on his elbow last February, said that his first plan was to try to work his way back to pitch in the majors late in the 2009 season. In July, though, he knew his elbow wasn't responding well enough, so he shut it down.
Sheets abandoned the quick rehab plan for a more cautious one. He couldn't simply prepare himself to be ready for the start of spring training or Opening Day, though, because he knew he had to be strong enough to audition for teams in the winter or there would be no spring training.
"I cranked it up," he said. "I didn't necessarily want to do it, but I knew what I had to do if I wanted to get an opportunity, the right opportunity."
The A's were one of dozens of teams that scouted Sheets at his workout in January near his home in Louisiana. It was apparently pretty impressive, because they made him an offer within a matter of hours and signed him the next week to a one-year, $10 million deal.Now, Sheets just has to prove it was a good investment. There is a long way to go from throwing a few good bullpen sessions to taking the ball every fifth day in the season and being successful. Throughout Sheets' career, the former has been more of a problem than the latter. Even before this elbow surgery, Sheets had missed parts of the previous four seasons with a variety of ailments.
In between stints on the disabled list, Sheets was one of the best pitchers in the National League. His 3.24 ERA from 2004 to 2008 ranked fifth in the majors among pitchers who worked at least 800 innings in that span, just behind Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay.
Sheets, who started the All-Star Game for the National League in 2008, is easily forgotten when listing the elite pitchers in the majors because of his injury troubles.
"I just want to prove that I'm healthy and can stay healthy," Sheets said. "I know I can pitch. When I'm healthy, I can pitch in this league. I don't think there a question about that. If I'm healthy, I'm going to get outs."
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