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Stentz makes pitch for quick comebackBy BRANT JAMES
© St. Petersburg Times, It was just another 90 mph fastball, but the last pitch Brent Stentz would throw for six weeks. Forty-three days after he walked off the mound at Edmonton's TELUS Field, numbness arcing down his right arm, the Hernando High School product will step back up to the rubber today -- this time on a side field at the Minnesota Twins' minor-league complex in Ft. Myers. "It's been kind of weird," Stentz said. "But I've gotten over (the fear)." Stentz shared the Triple-A Pacific Coast League lead in saves (7) when he suffered a "traction injury" May 3, a nerve condition that sent electrical fingers through his arm and prevents him from completely flexing his biceps. "I remember the guy fouled the ball off into the seats and then all of a sudden it felt like a stinger, like in football," Stentz said. "Everybody came running out of the dugout. I was flexing the arm, and I tried to throw and the whole arm went numb." After Stentz waited the required three weeks to take an uncomfortable EMG test -- in which needles are injected to test nerve stimulation with small electric shocks -- it was determined his nerves were firing at less than 30 percent of normal, Stentz said. After consultation with seven doctors -- all of whom, Stentz said, never had seen such an injury occur while pitching -- it was determined rehabilitation was the proper course for recovery. Stentz was sent to Ft. Myers three weeks ago to work with minor-league rehab coordinator Lanning Tucker. "I've been doing a lot of biceps curls, chest, anything for the biceps to flex it out," Stentz said. "There's been a lot of atrophy. I just try to keep it where I can get it to flex." At 25 and one rung from the major leagues, where he has yet to play in seven seasons as a professional, Stentz admitted he has been growing antsy in anticipation of today's work. Twins officials have allowed him to decide when his rehabilitation is complete, but Tucker has kept Stentz on a reasonable timetable, including forbidding any throwing on Friday. That hasn't kept Stentz from formulating an aggressive timetable -- assuming mound sessions today and Monday go well -- for returning to Edmonton. "My arm strength is probably 70-80 percent," he said. "It seems every day I throw, I can let it go a little bit more. "The doctor told me when he tested me he thought I would be out three months, and I kind of sat around depressed because that was going to be pretty much my whole season," Stentz said. "But the way it has come along so far, I think I can be back early -- maybe sometime in July. That would cut five or six weeks off his estimate." Though Stentz was left off Minnesota's 40-man roster the past two years and went untaken in two Rule 5 drafts, he chooses not to sulk about the status of his career. Stentz is eager to return because he thinks he finally sees a glimmer of making his big-league debut. He had a 3.86 earned-run average in 12 appearances when he was hurt, and the Twins recalled pitcher Jack Cressend from Triple-A two days later. "From where they sit, I'm still in their plans," Stentz said. "I'm happy with the way I started. I was happy with camp. "I was really looking forward to this year, and I think I can salvage it -- maybe even with a September call-up." If not, Stentz becomes a minor-league free agent Oct. 20. Minnesota minor-league officials had not returned phone calls by press time. For now, Stentz concentrates on making a muscle -- and his fastball -- pop again. "They know how impatient I am," he said. "They told me, whenever I say go, whenever I'm ready, they'll get me back to Edmonton."
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