When Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly first was told he needed surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, the diagnosis did not concern him, not the way it might other pitchers.
Kelly’s arm had been swollen and changing colors. He had a blood clot in his shoulder. He had gone through shock and fear about what was going on with his body. He just didn’t want it to happen again. At that point, he said, baseball was “kind of secondary.”
Kelly is now a week removed from the surgery, a procedure in which the first rib under the shoulder is removed to create room for improved blood flow.