Hershiser’s Confidence Growing : Comeback From Surgery Is Going Well, Pitcher Says

Orel Hershiser is optimistic now about his chances of pitching well again, and he expects to grow even more optimistic as time goes on.

“I’m excited that there’s no pain yet, and that I’m starting to act like a normal pitcher on this team,” Hershiser said earlier this week as the Dodgers opened winter workouts at Dodger Stadium.

“Everything has gone so positively that, if it continues, I’m going to sound more and more optimistic every time I talk about it.”

Hershiser, already throwing in excess of 80 m.p.h., said he’s still not absolutely certain he’ll be able to pick up his career after reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder.

“If I’m not ready by the All-Star break, then I’d have to say my career is in jeopardy,” he said. “But that’s not to say I’m giving up on being ready before that. There’s just no cookbook to follow.”

The 1988 National League Cy Young Award winner, Hershiser had the operation after only four starts last April.

Hershiser, who set a major-league record in 1988 with 59 consecutive scoreless innings and then won the World Series MVP award, has thrown off the mound four times this winter under the direction of team therapist Pat Screnar.

“He’s been at every workout and he’s kept the reins on me like a horse,” Hershiser said. “When I got onto the mound for the first workout on the mound about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I wanted to see what I had. But he really stayed with me mentally and kept telling me to take it easy.”

Screnar instructed Hershiser to concentrate on his mechanics, stretch the arm and build up strength.

“What we’re trying to accomplish right now is to get used to throwing on an angle,” Hershiser said. “As we throw on that angle, it creates new stress on the arm. So you have to see if the surgery is going to hold up and if the scar tissue is forming in the proper way.”

Hershiser said his arm hasn’t felt stiff or sore after workouts. His next goal is to pitch to batters at spring training.

“I won’t know what his progress is until I see him pitch in competition,” Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda said. “He can throw on the sidelines all the time and feel good, but that’s not the same as pitching in competition.

“If there’s anyone who can come back from that operation, it’s Hershiser, because he’s dedicated and he takes good care of himself. I’ve got great faith in him coming back.”

“I really feel like I’m going to pitch again sometime, unless we just hit some major setback,” said Hershiser, 32.

“I don’t want to get real excited about it and set myself up for a big fall,” he added. “But I don’t want to curb the truth and say things are going badly, because they’re not. They’re going very, very well.”