By Brett Okamoto (contact)

Thu, Dec 4, 2008 (4:37 p.m.)

Courtesy photo

Shreve

For former Bonanza pitcher Colby Shreve, the difference between being a first round pick in the Major League Baseball draft and a sixth round pick is very small.

About pencil-lead small.

On May 15, three weeks before the June 5 draft, Shreve had Tommy John surgery. The procedure takes a tendon from one part of the body and weaves it through holes drilled in the ulna and humerus bones of the elbow.

Several pitchers have the surgery as the ligament, about the size of a pencil lead, frays and tears from overuse.

The injury happened at the worst possible time for Shreve. Then in his sophomore season at College of Southern Nevada, he expected to be selected in the first round. The Philadelphia Phillies ended up taking him in the sixth with the 196th overall pick.

"It's tough, you never want to be injured, especially coming into your professional career," Shreve said. "They had me projected at mid-first round, but after I got hurt I didn't know how far I had fallen. I was honestly just happy to be picked."

Even with the injury, Shreve banked a $400,000 signing bonus when he signed on July 17. Four days later he was in Florida to continue his rehabilitation and join the minor league Gold Coast Phillies for the end of the season.

Shreve received the green light on Oct. 13 to start throwing again after nearly five months without a baseball in his hand. He hopes to be near full-strength in March for spring training.

"I knew the physical stuff would be hard but I never knew it would take such a toll on my mind," Shreve said. "Somedays I'm out throwing and it feels awesome and I think I could throw a game in six months. Then there are days it doesn't feel like it should and it goes through your mind that you may never throw in a game again. I've been just trying to take my lumps and keep going at it."

The surgery boasts a 85 to 90 percent success rate, and seeing Shreve's work ethic over the past years puts away any fear that the injury will shorten his career.

"When we took a look at him in high school he was throwing a top speed of 89 mph and that was only one or two pitches a game," CSN coach Tim Chambers said. "When he showed up for us his freshman year his first pitch hit 93. That just shows how hard this kid was working. "

It's been a fast rise to the pitching elite for Shreve, considering he didn't start pitching until his junior year at Bonanza in 2004. After coming into the program the year before, Bengals coach Derek Stafford took a long look at his 6-foot-5 third baseman and wondered how he'd do on the mound.

"I took over when Colby was a sophomore and he was playing third base," Stafford said. "The summer before his junior year I asked him if he'd ever pitched before. He said he had when he was in Little League but nothing since then. I told him, 'We're going to put you on the mound this year and see what happens.' He ended up leading us to a second-place finish in the division."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.