Sutter Was Relieved at the End : A Shoulder Injury Made His 1985 Season Forgettable

Bruce Sutter is ready to forget last season.

“I’m not the only player who’s been hurt and played,” said the All-Star relief pitcher, who is in his second season with the Atlanta Braves.

“That’s all in the past. I don’t blame the injury for the way I pitched. I had an operation. I’m coming back strong.”

Sutter underwent surgery last Dec. 13 to repair a ligament in his pitching shoulder. The ligament had tightened around the nerve and was restricting the blood flow in his arm.

The shoulder problem was one of the contributing factors to an subpar season, only the second in his 10-year major league career during which he did not lead the National League in saves.

“I think I’m a little ahead of schedule,” the 33-year-old Sutter said recently. “There’s no pain. The arm doesn’t feel real strong yet. It’s just a matter of pitching and getting stronger.”

Last season, Sutter had only 23 saves, down from the NL record 45 he compiled in 1984. More telling, perhaps, was his earned run average, 4.48 compared to a career mark of 2.72.

Despite the problems, Sutter posted his ninth consecutive 20-save season, the longest such streak in baseball history, while increasing his league career saves record to 283. He trails only Rollie Fingers, who had 341 saves in the American League.

“He’s smiling again,” Braves’ General Manager Bobby Cox said of Sutter. “So he must be healthy.”

Braves’ Manager Chuck Tanner said Sutter has “looked excellent so far. He looks to me like he’s recovered. We expect him to be ready by opening day. He looks like the Sutter of old. His arm has healed, and at this point, I have nothing but good things to say.”

Sutter said he hopes to be ready for the season opener, “but there’s no way of knowing for sure.

“Mostly, I have to keep throwing. You can lift all the weights in the world, but you don’t see too many weightlifters pitching,” he said.

Now, he is working on things that will be necessary for him to pitch effectively during the season.

Sutter suffered with the pain in his shoulder most of last season. In late August, he was given two cortisone shots within a one-week span. He pitched eight games after that. On Sept. 25, the problem was diagnosed, rest was prescribed and he was out for the rest of the season.

Additional examinations in December determined that the injury had not improved, so surgery was prescribed and performed by Dr. Robert Wells.

“The doctors told me I’d be all right,” Sutter said. “They found the problem and solved it. They didn’t have to cut through anything. I have every reason to believe I’m going to be all right.”

Sutter came to the Braves last year as a free agent from St. Louis, with whom he had pitched four seasons.