Jonny Venters was hopeful the soreness in his surgically repaired left arm was not serious, after he had to cut his first live batting practice session short Wednesday in Orlando. Venters, who is recovering from a second Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, was back in Atlanta to be examined by team doctors Monday afternoon.
“There was a tiny bit of swelling the next day but nothing alarming and within two days the soreness was gone,” Venters said. “It’s been normal for the past few days. I’m going to see the doctor today and hopefully start throwing again as soon as they think is right — hopefully in the next couple days start playing catch and building back up.”
Venters said he felt fine throwing 25 pitches during a five-minute session on the mound Wednesday, but then by the 10th pitch he threw with a batter in the box, he felt it get sore.
“Obviously I was throwing a little harder than I have,” Venters said. “I had the hitters in there, the intensity naturally picks up a little bit. I got a little sore and I didn’t want to push it too much.”
When Venters went through his first elbow operation in 2006 as a minor-leaguer, he might not have stopped throwing like he did Wednesday. This time around, he thinks he’s learned better.
“Especially (going through) the second one, you’ve got to listen to your arm,” Venters said. “When I was young, I probably would have kept throwing live (batting practice) and just pitched through it and let it get worse and worse. It’s going to tell you what you can and can’t do. obviously I don’t want to take more time I want to get out there and pitch but I’m going to push it as hard as it will let me go … make sure everything feels stable. Hopefully start back up soon.”
