Donnelly Feels Normal at Last

Now it can be told: Remember all those times last season when reliever Brendan Donnelly insisted he was 100%, that he was fully recovered from the complications stemming from a broken nose and the elbow tendinitis that sidelined him until mid-June?

“There were a lot of half-truths to that because I wasn’t really ready,” Donnelly admits now. Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black “did a good job of limiting me to situations that weren’t critical. It wasn’t until the end of last season that I finally felt 100%, back to normal. Now, I’m ready. Really.”

And he’s not about to mess with that good vibe. That’s why Donnelly moved from a second-story unit to the bottom floor in his Arizona condominium complex, why he drives a different route to the stadium, why he’s not shagging during batting practice. “Call me stupid,” Donnelly said of his superstitions. “I don’t care.”

After last spring, why risk it? Donnelly suffered a minor knee injury in a car accident before the first workout. Then on March 9, he was struck in the face by a batting-practice fly ball hit by Chone Figgins and broke his nose in 20 places.

Donnelly needed three surgical procedures to stem the severe nosebleeds he experienced for weeks, and when he was finally cleared to pitch in May, he suffered an elbow injury in a minor league game and sat out another month.

“I just try to forget about last spring -- it didn’t happen,” said Donnelly, who will share the set-up role with Scot Shields in front of closer Francisco Rodriguez this season. “A radio guy asked me the other day, ‘What positives came out of it?’ I quickly walked away. There were no positives, just a lot of negatives.”

When Donnelly joined the Angels last June, he was effective but not as dominant as he was in 2003, when the right-hander went 2-2 with a 1.58 earned-run average in 74 games and pitched in the All-Star game. His fastball wasn’t quite as crisp; his split-fingered fastball wasn’t as sharp.

As he regained his strength and stamina in September, Donnelly began to resemble the Donnelly of old -- in his last six regular-season appearances, a span of nine innings, he gave up no runs, three hits and struck out 10.

Donnelly gave up four runs and three hits in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the American League division series, as Boston pulled away for an 8-3 victory, but he bounced back with his best performance of the season in Game 3, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out five in the loss to the Red Sox.

“Everything was working that day,” Donnelly said. “I felt I was back to where nothing was hindering me. I went out strong, and that’s one reason I’m excited about this season. Now, I just want to stay out of the way of flying objects.”

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The Angels’ March 15 exhibition against the Chicago White Sox in Tucson will be televised live by ESPN2 at 11 a.m. PST.... Scioscia said pitcher Kelvim Escobar, limited to long toss the first week of camp, is “very close” to throwing off a mound.