WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Shawn Kelley last walked off a major-league mound after just three pitches. He flexed his hand in a search for feeling. The numbness and tingling he felt made him think something had gone very wrong in his pitching arm, which had twice before been repaired by Tommy John surgery.
That was Oct. 13, 2016. The visual of him leaving the mound in a do-or-die playoff game indicated that, at the least, Kelley would need substantial time to fix whatever was wrong. Instead, he was playing catch two days later and began his regular throwing routine around Jan.