I know he likes messing around with the crowd. But his success is because he's a fierce competitor and to me, he hasn't arrived yet. He comes at you with everything he's got, and we haven't seen everything yet.

It was great to get back on the mound and see a batter again. It's been a while.

This is what I have to do. We gave it seven months and it never ironed out. I wanted it so bad. I just really wanted to get back. I was taking steps where it was getting better, but it never really fully came on. It just never got 100 percent.

That crushed me. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with. We fought so stinking hard to get where we were. Then I couldn't help.

I was thankful that the MRI showed that I just had inflammation in the shoulder, not any structural damage. If I can get it calmed down, I should be OK.

Once somebody gives me the official word to let it go, I'm going to let it go.