Logan taking steady approach to recovery

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies left-hander Boone Logan is taking a measured preparation approach in gearing up for the season after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his throwing elbow during the offseason.

Logan, who signed for three years and $16.5 million after pitching the last four seasons with the Yankees, threw a 30-pitch, touch-and-feel bullpen Friday, using his fastballs and changeups. But he hasn't thrown 100 percent. He'll begin a long-toss program this week to stretch the arm. It's not clear when he'll pitch in Cactus League games.

Last season, Logan went 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 61 games, but was in pain throughout the year. It also bothered him in 2012, but he led the American League with 80 appearances and went 7-2 with a 3.74 ERA.

"As long as I don't have any setbacks, if it keeps progressing, I'm not worried about it at all," Logan said.

Logan will need to be at full health. With the Yankees, he was used often in left-on-left matchups, but the Rockies want him available for full innings. That means he'll have to employ his changeup -- a pitch he had to be careful with when dealing with a bone spur and the chips in the elbow. He could barely rotate his arm, and he held off on offspeed pitches in warmups and just hoped they'd be there during the game.

"Now, I can prepare myself for a full inning," Logan said. "I can prepare for the seventh inning or the eighth inning, knowing that I'll have my own inning for the most part. I'm sure, too, there are situational times that I'll go in, because we have live arms at the end of the game."

Logan, 29, became familiar with Bill Geivett, the Rockies' senior vice president of Major League operations, during golf tournaments in his native San Antonio honoring Mike Coolbaugh, the late Rockies Double-A coach who was killed when hit in the neck by a line drive during a game. Logan appreciated the fact the Rockies didn't back off their free agency offer even though Logan had surgery.

"They said, 'We want you over here, we like your makeup, we like how you are as a person in the clubhouse,'" Logan said. "That meant a lot to me, and their confidence in me to have my own inning. Feeling love like that and having the opportunity to not let them down is going to be a little pressure on me, because I don't want to let anybody down. But I'm happy for the opportunity."

Rockies manager Walt Weiss said, "He hasn't had any issues, and we're encouraged where he's at."