Can't begin to say how excited I am for Colby Lewis heading into the Texas Rangers' series opener with the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.
Lewis is a guy that's pretty much impossible to not root for — a guy that has overcome several injuries and bouts of ineffectiveness to return to the bigs from a stint in Japan and become the greatest postseason pitcher in Rangers franchise history.
It's been 21 months since Lewis has toed a big-league mound in a game. His last start was July 18, 2012, and other than that, he threw the ceremonial first pitch for the Rangers' Game 163 loss to Tampa Bay last season.
Tonight's start against Seattle will be much more meaningful for the 34-year-old Lewis, who had surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his elbow on July 27, 2012 and was set to return last season before eventually needing hip resurfacing surgery — akin to a hip replacement but not as invasive.
Lewis will be the first baseball player to return to action after such a surgery, which has altered his delivery and has him pitching without hip discomfort for the first time in ages.
It's hard to know what to expect from Lewis, especially early on in this process, and you probably shouldn't expect much. But just be happy for the man and hope he can get back to what he used to be, back when he was the solid rock in the Rangers' rotation and winning postseason games like it was no big deal.
