TUCSON, Ariz. -- Larry Bowa has enough problems adapting to new managerial duties, so San Diego's rookie skipper is glad two of his pitchers are healthy again.
'Spring training isn't even a month old, and you really learn on a day-to-day basis,' Bowa said.
'There are many decisions still to be made, but you have to have healthy players in order to make them. That's why it's great to have two key guys throwing without pain.'
Both Eric Show and Dave Dravecky had their 1986 seasons stalled by injury. Show, a right-hander who is the Padres' No. 1 starter, went 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA before being placed on the disabled list last June for the first time in his career.
He came back to pitch, but the pain in his elbow was diagnosed as flexor tendinitis and Show again was disabled on Aug. 28 and did not pitch again.
'The rest and my subsequent rehabilitation have worked,' said the 30-year-old Show. 'I'm throwing without any pain, just the usual fatigue. I've been averaging 33 to 35 starts the last few years, but only had 22 in 1986.
'This is a sort of a fresh start for me again. I don't want the tendinitis to reoccur, so I won't be pitching too many innings at a stretch until the final week.'
Dravecky was 9-11 with a 3.07 ERA in 26 games, but made only eight appearances following the All-Star break and none after Aug. 26 because of continuing tenderness in his arm.
Bowa has said that Dravecky probably will begin the season in the bullpen, an idea that the left-hander says might prevent future pain.
'I think it may be good for me,' he said. 'I certainly don't want to go through a season of inconsistency again.
'Middle to long relief wouldn't be very much different from starting. It basically works out to the same number of innings.'
Dravecky, 31, is a native of Youngstown, Ohio, and a graduate of Youngstown State University. He grew up just a block away from Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar's family.
'I've got lots of family there,' he said. 'I get to see them when we go to Pittsburgh.
'I follow the Browns and Indians. Watching Kosar gives me a special sense of pride because we're from the same hometown.'
Dravecky now lives year round in San Diego, as does Show, and says that 'it's important for a player, if he can, to live in the same community where he works.'
Bowa liked Dravecky's use of the word 'work.'
'Baseball is work,' he said. 'When you do it professionally, it becomes much more than just a game.
'We need Eric and Dave to anchor our pitching staff. We play in a competitive division, and we'll have more than the usual share of rookies. So, we need the veterans to lean on.'
