PRO BASEBALL / MIKE HISERMAN : Rosselli Makes Giant Strides in Comeback

There were no outward signs of excitement. No pumping of a fist; not so much as the trace of a smile.

But inside the calm exterior, Joey Rosselli was overcome by a pool of emotions.

He was happy, relieved, proud. “You name it, I felt it,” he said.

In his first regular-season appearance in almost a year, Rosselli pitched the Shreveport (La.) Captains to a 6-3 victory over the Arkansas Travelers last week in a Class-AA Texas League opener.

Rosselli, a 1990 graduate of Alemany High, gave up one earned run in seven innings, an outing he typically downplayed, saying, “I did OK.”

Truth be told, his performance was far better than that considering the circumstances.

For Rosselli, the game marked the culmination of months of rehabilitation after shoulder surgery.

Rosselli was on a fast track up the ladder in the San Francisco Giants’ organization last spring when an impingement beneath his collarbone forced him onto the disabled list and ended his third professional season after four games.

First came arthroscopic surgery, then hundreds of hours of therapy.

Through it all, Rosselli, a left-hander who was voted pitcher of the year in the Class-A California League in 1991, remained determined and focused.

“He was very religious about therapy, religious about exercise and religious about his throwing program,” Captains’ pitching coach Steve Cline said. “He’s a true professional. He knew what he needed to do after the surgery, and he made sure it got done.”

The Giants obviously appreciated his work ethic.

Despite his injury, San Francisco protected Rosselli on its 40-man winter roster and invited him to big-league camp this spring.

“That answered any question about what the Giants thought about me,” Rosselli said. “It’s a little booster in the back of my head. I want to make sure I don’t disappoint them.”

Rosselli didn’t get into a spring game with the Giants, but he did enjoy the experience of being around some major league stars.

“Shoot, anybody would be excited about just being (at a major league camp),” Rosselli said. “Then you’re out on the field and stretching with guys like Barry Bonds and Matt Williams and Rod Beck. You tell yourself not to be intimidated, but you are a little anyway.”

Rosselli, 21, may be among them sooner than he thinks.

Tony Siegle, the Giants’ vice president in charge of baseball operations, still counts Rosselli among the club’s top pitching prospects.

“He has velocity, control and stuff,” Siegle said. “He’s a good competitor and is very poised for his age.”

That poise was evident when Rosselli strode onto the field against Arkansas.

“It was a great feeling, just to be out on the mound again,” he said. “Of course, I can’t get too excited about one start. There’s 24 or 25 more to go.”

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Short ‘n sweet: Roger Salkeld isn’t long for the Pacific Coast League, which is good news for a fairly sizable group of triple-A hitters.

Salkeld has won his only two starts for the Seattle Mariners’ affiliate in Calgary. In 11 innings, he has given up two earned runs and three hits.

Opponents are batting .081 against Salkeld, who had a no-hitter through five innings against Vancouver on Wednesday night when he was replaced.

Salkeld is scheduled to make another start on Monday before receiving a promotion. The former Saugus High star is expected to make his first start for the Mariners next Saturday, a club official said.

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Second time around: With his second team and in his second position, Jim Bruske is on the cusp of getting his first shot in the big leagues after eight full seasons in the minors.

The former Palmdale High and Antelope Valley College star is a starting pitcher for the Houston Astros’ triple-A team in Tucson. Drafted by the Cleveland Indians out of Loyola Marymount in 1986, Bruske spent the first half of his pro career as an outfielder before being converted in 1991.

The Astros signed Bruske as a minor league free agent in 1992 and last season he was a combined 13-7 with a 3.29 earned-run average for Tucson and double-A Jackson (Miss.).

For the first time in his career, Bruske was invited to big-league camp this spring. He appeared in three games and pitched well, giving up three runs in nine innings.

One strike against Bruske is his age, 29. But because of his switch to pitching, he has remained patient.

“I definitely had a timetable as an outfielder, but things have changed,” he said. “It would be different if I’d been a pitcher for a lot of years already. Then it would be easier to walk away.”

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Short hops: A sore shoulder that has plagued infielder David Landaker since shortly after he was drafted out of Royal High has flared up again.

Landaker, a second-round choice of the Astros in 1992, has not appeared in the first seven games for the Class-A Quad City River Bandits.

“It bothers him to throw,” a club official said. “When he does, it pinches him.”

A similar problem last season limited Landaker to 10 games in the rookie Gulf Coast League. In 32 at-bats, he batted .500 with five doubles.

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The Chicago Cubs have told former Westlake High standout Matt Franco to expect some work at third base.

Franco, a first baseman who last season batted a combined .305 with 12 home runs and a Cubs’ organization-high 37 doubles for double-A Orlando and triple-A Iowa, welcomes the challenge.

“I’d like to play as much third as I can because I think I become a lot more valuable if they know I can play both positions,” Franco said.

“If you’re versatile and bat left-handed, there’s usually a spot for you on at least one of the 28 teams out there.”

Chicago thinks enough of Franco that he was protected on its 40-man big-league roster during the winter.

This spring, because of an injury to Cub regular Mark Grace, Franco got a long look by the major league team. In 41 at-bats, he had 11 hits, including a home run off Mike Harkey of the Colorado Rockies.

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After a solid 1993 season with double-A San Antonio, former Poly High standout Javier Delahoya was released by the Dodgers and quickly signed by the Florida Marlins.

Now pitching for double-A Maine, Delahoya is off to an 0-1 start, but he has struck out nine and given up only two earned runs in 12 innings.