SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Rangers’ rotational recovery room discharged its final patient Friday, as righty Shelby Miller followed Edinson Vólquez and Drew Smyly to the mound to mark the third consecutive day Texas started a pitcher hoping to bounce back from career-derailing elbow injuries.

Miller allowed two runs on two hits and a leadoff walk in the first inning, his only frame of work, but the outing was a qualified success given he was limited to only eight starts over the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery on May 10, 2017.

“More than anything, it’s about getting the work in,” Miller said.

Like Volquez and Smyly, who had the same surgery and missed significant amounts of time, Miller has his first spring work out of the way now. They have many incremental steps left in camp to get ready for the regular season, but their somewhat torturous surgery rehabilitation process is over.

“That was a very dreadful two years,” said Miller, who signed a one-year, $2 million offseason deal with Texas that could reach $5 million through incentives. “I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy. It’s a constant grind, tons of hours in the training room. I don’t even want to step foot in there anymore, even though I’ve got to go in there and get my arm care in.

"It’s tough, but I think we’ve all overcome that and that’s behind us. We’re just looking forward to pitching and going out there and starting every five days. ... We’re all capable of doing that, and we all look like we’re capable of doing that. We’re strong, and we’re ready to go to work.”

Miller has a career 3.83 ERA in 131 games, including 124 starts. He made 115 starts over three seasons with the Cardinals, Braves and Cubs from 2013-16, and he was an All-Star with Atlanta in '15.

In the Rangers’ 8-5 loss to the White Sox on Friday, Miller walked the first hitter he faced and surrendered an RBI triple to Leury Garcia, the next batter, on the only pitch Miller felt like he genuinely missed in his outing. He retired three of the next four he faced, stranding Eloy Jiménez after his double.

“I felt strong,” Miller said. “I felt like I threw all my pitches, which is a positive. I was in the zone a lot, which was good. The location was pretty good. The only one I kind of missed was on the triple, I kind of yanked it back over the middle, but other than that I was pretty pleased with the outcome.”

The 28-year-old Miller said he felt like he could have pitched more innings Friday, and that his velocity was where he wanted it.

“It’s a good feeling,” Miller said. “I was pretty anxious going into it.”

Perhaps no Rangers player empathizes with that anxiety more than their No. 1 starter, Mike Minor. He also missed two Major League seasons following shoulder surgery before returning in 2017.

“The same thing happened with me with Kansas City when I first pitched in a Spring Training game,” Minor said. “Leading up to it, you kind of feel like, 'Am I going to be able to pitch the same way?' You try to tell yourself you’ve done it a million times, but when you haven’t done it in so long, it is kind of weird. You come off the mound and everybody’s congratulating you and shaking your hand -- because it is tough, coming back.”