March 04--White Sox prospect Chris Beck experienced extremes over the course of two weeks in May and June last year.
The right-handed starter made his major-league debut May 28 during a one-day call-up for the Sox's doubleheader in Baltimore. He allowed four earned runs on 10 hits with four walks and three strikeouts in six innings in a loss.
Just days later, Beck, 25, was back pitching in Triple-A Charlotte when he felt a muscle cramp shooting through his arm, and he knew something wasn't right.
With tingling in his fingers and pain in his forearm, he feared the worst -- Tommy John surgery -- so he was relieved to find out the injury instead required ulnar nerve transposition, which allows for a much quicker recovery.
"Having surgery is a bad thing, but having that surgery was a good thing, in my case," Beck said. "To have that surgery instead of having the one that takes about 14 months for recovery was a big deal."
Beck had the surgery in early November and was slated to throw out of the bullpen in his first game situation Friday in a Cactus League game against the Indians at Camelback Ranch.
The numbness in his hand is gone, but he still deals with some soreness, which he said is to be expected after such a procedure.
Ranked No. 10 among Sox prospects by MLB.com, Beck, who had a 3.15 ERA over 10 starts in Charlotte last season, is eager to return to the form that earned him the Sox call last May.
"I wish I could say I remember more," Beck said of the game. "It was so fast. It was over in the blink of an eye, just more adrenaline than I ever could have expected. It's something I'd like to build from, like to get back to as soon as possible.
"There's a taste left in my mouth after just that brief stint and then getting injured that makes me want to get back that much faster."
