The sky was grey when Padres right-hander Chris Young took the mound on Tuesday to face the Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. By the time he left the game after three scoreless, one-hit innings, the weather had broken and sun bathed the field.
Young, a Princeton graduate and the Padres' highest paid player, hopes the weather is a metaphor for the coming season. After three grey years of incessant injury, Young is just hoping he'll be blessed with this one in the sunshine.
"I feel like if I'm healthy and can make 30-plus starts, the numbers will take care of themselves," said Young, who missed most of last season with a right shoulder injury. "Hopefully, I'll give our team a chance to be in good position come September. That's my main goal."
Young gave an inkling of his once dominant self when he struck out Kendry Morales and Hideki Matsui, both swinging to end the first inning as the Angels defeated the Padres, 6-5. It was Matsui's first plate appearance as an Angel, coming four months after being named MVP of the Yankees' six-game World Series victory over the Phillies.
"They are two pretty good hitters," Young said about facing Morales and Matsui. "Sometimes you just get lucky."
Matsui said he was baffled facing Young, who at 6-10 is as formidable a presence on the mound as he was on a college basketball court. It was the first confrontation between the lefty-swinging hitter and right-handed pitcher.
"It's tough to time yourself against a pitcher like that," said Matsui, who swung at a backdoor slider just off the outside portion of the plate. "I think that last pitch was a ball, but I swung at it and that was it."
Young faced 10 batters, allowing one hit and a walk, while striking out that pair. He threw 46 pitches, 25 of them strikes, saying that "my stuff felt good, but my control wasn't very good. That's why you have all of Spring Training to work on some things."
The Padres aren't babying Young to get through it. The next time out in five days, they'll increase the workload to 60 pitches. They'll add another 15 pitches from start to start, and so on. In that way, by the time the team breaks camp, Young will be ready to open the regular season.
Bud Black hasn't decided yet on an Opening Day starter against Dan Haren and the D-backs on April 5 at Chase Field. It's between Young, Kevin Correia and Jon Garland, the Padres manager said.
"[Young] doesn't need the added pressure," Black added after the game. "We just want to make sure he makes all his bullpens and his starts. We just want to make sure that he's healthy as we get through March. That's what we're looking for and he's progressing."
After seemingly endless cycles of injury and rehab, Young is just simply enjoying right now the fruit of his good health.
On Aug. 17 of last season, Young had arthroscopic surgery to remove tissue impinging his right shoulder. He last pitched on June 14 and subsequently missed the remainder of the season.
The shoulder injury wasn't the beginning. Young suffered a strained left oblique and a strained right forearm after his appearance in the 2007 All-Star Game. On May 21, 2008, he was hit in the forehead with a line drive hit by Albert Pujols that broke Young's nose and took a chip out of his skull. The scar between his eyes is still visible.
Young has been 20-20 since all the injuries, including 4-6 in only 14 starts last season. He's under contract for $6.25 million this year and the club has an $8.5 million option to exercise for 2011. Whether the Padres chose to take that route will depend on Young's health and contribution this season.
"I have to stay focused on the future," Young said. "I can't control what's already happened. I have to work hard to make sure that I'm in the best possible shape, do everything I can as far as rehab or physical therapy or conditioning is concerned. Just be prepared for this season. You can't change the past. You can only learn from it. I just have to stay positive and not dwell on it."
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