NewsCalero sees promise after long road
Florida (4-0) vs. New York (2-2), Saturday, 6:10 p.m. ET
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
04/11/09 2:15 AM ET
There always seems to be one in the bunch -- lately, at least.In 2007, Lee Gardner and Justin Miller -- who had combined to pitch in just six Major League games over their previous two seasons -- came from relative obscurity to become integral parts of the Marlins' bullpen, combining to post a 2.71 ERA in 124 appearances.
The following year, it was Joe Nelson and Doug Waechter, neither of whom had pitched in the Major Leagues the previous year but emerged in '08, teaming up to post a 2.92 ERA in almost 120 innings.
Each had his individual comeback story, and each found new life in the sunshine of South Florida.
And while the 2009 season is still relatively young, it looks like Kiko Calero could fit that mold this year.
He definitely has the background story.
Calero was a standout setup man from 2003-06, combining to post an 11-5 record with a 3.10 ERA in two years each with the Cardinals and Athletics. But shoulder problems skyrocketed his ERA to 5.75 in '07, then limited him to five Major League appearances last season.
Calero was signed by the Marlins as a Minor League free agent in late January. Since then, the 34-year-old right-hander has given up one run -- surrendered Friday -- across 13 Spring Training and regular-season innings combined.
Though it's still early, that's a positive step for a man who has pitched through nothing but negatives the past two years.
"Truthfully, 2007 and 2008 were the most difficult years of my life," Calero said. "When [the shoulder injury] happened to me, since it was so much pain, I thought about a lot of things. I thought maybe this could be the end of my career. I didn't think about retirement, but when you're late in your career and you go down [to the Minor Leagues], it's very difficult to come back up."
Calero said he started feeling shoulder discomfort, probably from wear and tear, two months into the 2007 season with the Athletics. But because he was firmly established as the team's setup man and he didn't want to make excuses, he kept quiet.
That came back to haunt Calero, when he was eventually shut down the rest of the season -- a decision he said he personally made -- and was revealed to have a bigger tear in the shoulder than originally believed that offseason.
After opting for rehab rather than surgery in 2008, Calero struggled with the A's, rejected his Minor League assignment, signed a Minor League deal with the Rangers and stumbled to a 7.59 ERA in 18 games for their Triple-A affiliate before the Marlins gave him a shot.
"Last year was very frustrating for me," Calero admitted. "I had a little bit of pain, but it was actually mental because I was frustrated.
"But thankfully, I'm healthy now, and I don't feel any pain. That's the most important thing."
For the Marlins, Calero's health couldn't have come at a better time, considering their expected setup man, Scott Proctor, can't yet give such a positive medical report because of loose scar tissue in a right elbow that underwent surgery this past offseason.
Thanks to that, and his initial success, Calero has found a home in Miami -- the place he spent three years when he pitched out of Miami Dade College and Saint Thomas University.
"There's still a lot of baseball left to be played, but I feel happy with the work they've been giving me," said Calero, who has a street named after him where he grew up, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. "But I have to be ready whenever they call on me. Here, I can't say I'm the setup man or anything like that. All of the pitchers that we have here in the bullpen are really good, and everybody can do the same good work."
Pitching matchupFLA: RHP Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 7.50 ERA)
With the Marlins employing a four-man rotation early, Nolasco will make his second start in the club's first five games. The right-hander faced the Mets six times last year, and he was 1-2 with a 3.48 ERA. For his career, he has faced New York 11 times, and he's 2-5 with a 6.27 ERA against them. During Opening Day on Monday, Nolasco got the win despite giving up five runs on six hits while striking out six and walking none. The 26-year-old retired nine of his first 10 batters before getting into some trouble in the fourth and sixth innings. NYM: RHP Livan Hernandez (13-11, 6.05 ERA in 2008)
Hernandez hasn't pitched against the Marlins since Aug. 16, 2007, when he beat them. He has experience in the ballpark now called Dolphin Stadium, having made his first 70 starts for the Marlins from 1997-99. His career ERA in Miami, 3.86, is significantly lower than his overall ERA, 4.37. Hernandez has a 4-3 record in his 10 most recent starts against the Marlins. He produced a 3.07 ERA in five appearances -- two of them starts -- in 14 2/3 innings in Spring Training. Tidbits
Proctor continues to slowly progress in his attempt to come back. The 32-year-old right-hander threw off flat ground for the third time in four days on Friday but said he's still unsure when he'll be back on the mound. Proctor, whose only Grapefruit League appearance was an inning -- thrown on Feb. 27 -- said he'd like to pitch in back-to-back Minor League games before making his return and said "it's going to be hard" to make it back by his target date of May 1. ... Alfredo Amezaga (sprained left knee), whose 15-day disabled-list stint is retroactive to March 27, is eligible to return as early as Sunday. Previous reports had Amezaga eligible to return as soon as Saturday because of some confusion. ... Anibal Sanchez's five shutout innings on Friday marked the first time he had not yielded a run in an outing since his no-hitter on Sept. 6, 2006. ... The Marlins have begun a season 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. The earliest the club registered a winning streak of four games or more was April 5-11, 1997 (five games). Tickets
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• Sunday: Marlins (Josh Johnson, 1-0, 0.00) vs. Mets (Johan Santana, 1-0, 1.59), 1:10 p.m. ET
• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday: Marlins (Chris Volstad, 1-0, 1.80) at Braves (Javier Vazquez, 0-0, 4.50), 7:00 p.m. ET
Alden Gonzalez is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
