Mariners Hail Matt Young Despite Record : Seattle: The left-hander gets better and better, team says, two years after reconstructive surgery on his elbow.

The Seattle Mariners say left hander Matt Young just gets better and better. It’s his record that’s lousy.

Two years ago this month, Young underwent major reconstructive surgery on his left elbow. Signed by the Mariners as a free agent last Dec. 15, his career has been resurrected.

“We knew his arm was sound when we signed him,” Mariners pitching coach Mike Paul said. “We just didn’t know what we were going to get. The improvement in Matt Young from April until now has been phenomenal in our eyes. He’s just gotten better as the season’s gone along.”

Young, 32, has pitched much better than his 8-14 record indicates. The Mariners just haven’t scored many runs for him.

In 195 2/3 innings in 29 games, his earned-run average is 3.31. He leads a young and promising Mariners pitching staff with six complete games.

“It’s very gratifying to me,” Young said. “I had a lot of things to prove to myself. I’m the one who has to live with myself.”

Young was confident before the season, but there was reason for doubt. After missing the entire 1988 season, he pitched at Modesto, Tacoma and Oakland in 1989. He had a 1-4 record and a 6.75 ERA in 37 1/3 innings in 26 games for the Athletics.

“When he started this year, there was always the question of, ‘Do I still have it? Can I get people out?’ Well, he’s held up very well with the run support he’s been given this year,” Paul said.

Young was born in Pasadena and attended Pasadena City College and UCLA. In 1983, as a rookie, Young represented the Mariners in the All-Star Game. He pitched a scoreless inning in Chicago.

“I may not be a better pitcher than I was then but I think I’m a smarter pitcher,” he said. “I realize my limitations, my capabilities.

“I know now that I can’t strike anybody out until I get two strikes on them.”

The 6-3, 205-pounder pitched with the Mariners from 1983 through 1986. The Mariners traded him to the Dodgers after the 1986 season. After a disappointing, injury-plagued 1987 in Los Angeles, the Dodgers sent him to the A’s as part of the deal that also sent Bob Welch to Oakland and brought Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell south.

Always a hard thrower, Young actually throws harder today than ever before.

“My velocity has picked up by two or three m.p.h. on an average on my fastball,” he said. “Before my surgery, I knew anywhere from 87 to 89. Now, I’m throwing 89 to 92. I have no idea how to explain it. Maybe it was caused by the ligament in my elbow. Maybe it was partially torn before. But I really don’t know.”

Young signed with the Mariners because he liked new owner Jeff Smulyan and the team offered him a chance to become a starter.

Unless the Mariners re-sign him, Young will become a free agent after the World Series. He’s working under a one-year contract for $587,000, cheap for a starting major league pitcher at today’s prices.

The Mariners and Young are talking about a new contract but Young talks cautiously about his future in Seattle.

“I would like to come back here, but I’m 32 and I have to look out for myself and my family,” he said. “It’s hard to say what’s going to happen. Hopefully something can get done before the end of the season.”