Staff file photo by Graham Cullen Keys pitcher Chorye Spoone is trying to get his arm strength back after having surgery.

Spoone would love to the in the majors with his former teammates. But considering what he's gone though since leaving the Keys, he's just happy to be pitching anywhere.

Spoone suffered a torn labrum while with Bowie last year. He pitched in only nine games and eventually had surgery. He spent most of this year at the Orioles' minor league complex in Sarasota, Fla., trying to get his arm strength back and his career going again.

Spoone was sent up to Aberdeen on Aug. 16 where he pitched one game, and then to Frederick five days later. He has pitched two games for the Keys.

His velocity is down. His curveball and slider aren't as good as they were two years ago. But he is not having any pain and that is the main thing as his pitches should improve as he sees more action. And he wonders what would have been if he had not been hurt.

"I would give almost anything to be pitching in the big leagues like those guys," Spoone said prior to Friday's game against Myrtle Beach. "Seeing them up there gives me confidence. They are having success, I know I can have success up there as well."

Spoone was 10-9 with a 3.26 ERA for the Keys in 2007. He pitched two complete games in postseason play and allowed just two runs in 18 innings. He seemed to have everything going for him and was considered one of the Orioles' top prospects.

But while pitching in Bowie the next year he suffered a setback that has stalled his career, while his former Keys teammates have progressed to the big leagues.

He had pitched four games for the Baysox with no problems. But after two innings in his fifth start, he began to have problems with his arm.

"I threw an 0-2 curveball and I felt a sharp pain in my arm," the 24-year-old right-hander from Pasadena, Md., said. "I thought nothing of if. I threw a couple of more pitches. It was still there."

He went back to the dugout to calm down. But when he went out to throw again, his arm was killing him. His fastball was like a changeup.

The next day he had an MRI done and they discovered a torn labrum. He got a cortisone shot and was put through an intensive rehab program.

He went back to Florida and didn't have any pain. In July he came back to Bowie for a start against Harrisburg on July 4.

"The first four innings were OK," he said. "Then I go out there for the fifth and the first pitch I throw, it was the same thing, it was worse. It was like my arm was burning. Every time I threw, it was like I was pulling out something."

He managed to get two outs, but the pain was intense. He called his catcher out and told him they had to get the next guy out with one pitch (a changeup) and he did. He was through for the day and didn't pitch again for more than a year.

He went back to Florida again and tried rehab, but it didn't work. So Sept. 2, he had surgery. He spent the offseason working with a physical therapist.

But he did get one bit of good news. During the offseason, the Orioles put him on their 40-man roster so they wouldn't lose him in the draft.

"It meant they saw something in me that was worth protecting, that I had shown them something," he said. "They didn't want to take a chance of losing me. That meant a lot."

Despite the injury, he is still the Orioles' 12th ranked prospect, according to Baseball America.

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SPOONE WENT to spring training this year, but began to have problems with tightness in his arm, just another setback.

By early May he was back to throwing again. At first he was hesitant to let loose, but finally did and was able to stretch out his arm.

On July 22 he pitched in a Gulf Coast League game and lasted just a third of an inning, 22 pitches. He gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. The poor statistics didn't bother him.

"There was no pain in my arm," he said. "My velocity wasn't bad, my movement was OK and I threw my offspeed stuff for strikes"

He had three more starts in the Gulf Coast, allowing just one run in seven innings in his last two. He pitched three shutout innings in a start in Aberdeen and has made two starts since coming to Frederick on Aug. 2, allowing five runs in 8 1/3 innings.

"He's closer than I thought he would be" said Keys pitching coach Kennie Steenstra, who was Spoone's pitching coach in Delmarva in 2006. "His last outing was much better than his first here."

He said Spoone's velocity is not what it should be and his slider and curve look the same. But he also said the injury could help him.

"It might make him pitch a little bit more," he said. "Coming back from this might make it more gratifying for him."

"My velocity is the only thing that hasn't really come back," he said. "The sharpness in my breaking balls and stuff is still there."

"He threw pain free and that was a good sign," said J.J. Cannon, the Keys field coach the last three years. "I didn't see that good live fastball, but he threw strikes, which I liked, and he will continue to get stronger."

During the season he's followed how his former teammates have done with the Orioles. When each had their first major league games, he made sure he got to a television in Florida where he could see them pitch. He would text them.

"It was fun to watch," he said.

But the last year hasn't been fun for him.

"It was definitely the most mentally challenging thing I ever went through," Spoone said.. "You do all this stuff to strengthen your arm and it feels great. Then you pick up a baseball all and it's like throwing a grenade. Your spiking the ball into the ground, throwing it high and you can't find your release point."

At times he gets frustrated. "If I threw well, I thought I had a good chance to maybe pitch in the big leagues last year or even this year," he said. "It wasn't in the cards I was dealt.

But he hasn't allowed himself to get down. He stays upbeat.

"It's going to take a lot more for me not to come back," he said. "I'm happy they (his former teammates) got their opportunity. Now I'm looking forward to getting mine."