Angel Pitchers Look to Be Cut Above After Surgery : Baseball: Recovery is progressing well for McCaskill’s elbow and Blyleven’s shoulder as both players try to overcome frustrations of last season.

Kirk McCaskill has yet to face a batter since undergoing a surgical cleanup of his right elbow Oct. 4, but he already knows the procedure was a resounding success.

“Right after the surgery, I had more flexibility in my arm than I’d had in three or four years in terms of being able to touch my shoulder with my hand,” McCaskill said. “It feels brand new.”

Bert Blyleven’s recovery from arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder is progressing at a slower pace, and he might not be at full strength when pitchers report Feb. 22 to Mesa, Ariz. But Blyleven, who will be 40 in April and is coming off a rocky, 8-7 season, is no less determined than McCaskill to erase the memory of his 1990 frustration.

“You always have to prove yourself, whether you’re 18 or you’re going to be 40,” said Blyleven, who is 21 victories short of 300 for his career. “You have to prove yourself and you can’t worry about what other people say about you. The hitters are going to let you know how you’re doing.”

He’s been doing well in the Angel pitchers’ Monday-Wednesday-Friday off-season workouts at Anaheim Stadium, but he’s proceeding carefully. Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann has devised two training camp regimens for Blyleven--”one for if everything is fine and another if we have to temper it,” Lachemann said--but he and Blyleven are pleased with what they’ve seen so far.

“He’s not where Kirk is but his surgery was different,” Lachemann said after watching his pitchers throw in the left-field bullpen last week.

“Right now, he’s (Blyleven) at the point in his rehab where we’re just trying to build strength in his shoulder. He’s doing more long-tossing than throwing off the mound. At this point, that’s fine. The last thing we want to do is push him.

“His arm seems very free. All the tests so far have all been good. He’s shown much more arm strength and shoulder strength than he had at the end of the year and every checkpoint has been very positive.”

Blyleven experienced discomfort in his shoulder for much of the season but thought little of it until mid-August.

“I felt something at the beginning of last year,” he said, “but I had other aches and pains, and when you’re going to be 40, you’re not going to feel like a red rose. You’re going to feel some thorns.

“Right now, it feels real good. I’m not throwing all my pitches, but I usually don’t do that until a couple of weeks before spring training. I’ve thrown a couple of breaking balls without any problem. . . .

“I just want to get back to being consistent. I’m unhappy with last year and the circumstances that led up to that. I want to get healthy and do whatever I can do to help this club win. I want to be part of the chemistry of a winning club. Hopefully, I can fulfill my end and be consistent.”

McCaskill’s earned-run average was consistently below 3 until his last four starts, when he allowed 16 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings to finish at 3.25. That was still good enough to rank 10th among American League pitchers, but he feels he can improve on that and his 12-11 record.

“I consider it just an average season,” said McCaskill, who missed two starts because of elbow problems and pitched only two complete games. “At times I was proud of what I was doing but at times I look at the numbers and I’m not really happy. That’s true any season.

“I wanted to keep my ERA under 3 and that fell apart. I look at my innings (178) and strikeouts (78) and when I total that up, there’s room for improvement. I think the wins were a result of a lack of strikeouts. I had a little bit of tentativeness with my arm. I wasn’t willing to let them (hitters) hit it as much as I should have.”

That should change this season, with the confidence rekindled during his winter workouts. Until Jan. 7, he said, “I didn’t throw anything except for tantrums,” but each session since then has increased his optimism. According to Lachemann, McCaskill not only will be ready for the start of spring training, but also could be better than ever.

“He may have more (velocity),” Lachemann said. “He’s 80%, probably with all of his pitches, and that’s a very good sign.”

That measure of efficiency is precisely where McCaskill usually is at this time of year.

“I’ve been throwing all my pitches and I’m right on schedule,” said McCaskill, who has been more patient in his recovery than he was in 1987, when he rushed back from a midseason operation to remove bone chips from the same elbow.

“I think I’ve shown that when I’m healthy, I’m going to pitch well enough to win 15 or 16 games. Based on how I feel now, I know I can pitch well enough to win 15. I can’t wait for spring training.”