Back and healthy, Gonzales shines for Redbirds

Three starts into his return from Tommy John surgery, Marco Gonzales is posting impressive numbers again. But he's even happier with how things are going off the field.
The Cardinals' No. 19 prospect scattered four hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings on Saturday as Triple-A Memphis held on for a 4-2 victory over Fresno at Chukchansi Field.

"The stat line isn't my measure of success right now, my ability to focus on what really matters is -- and that's my arm health," Gonzales said. "I've put 100 percent of my focus on making my body feel good and my recovery and that's how I'm gauging my success.The numbers will happen and I'm happy with how my first couple of starts, but I'm even happier with my ability to stay with my process."
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Gonzales injured his elbow prior to Opening Day last year. A few weeks later, the Colorado native underwent elbow ligament replacement surgery, wiping out his entire season. Knowing he had a long road ahead of him, he leaned on advice from former college teammate Derek Peterson as well as Cardinals teammate Adam Wainwright.
"It's kind of bizarre; the time flew by, actually," Gonzales said. "I got some advice when I first started my rehab to count the weeks, not the months, and not to look at the big picture but just look at the day to day and to develop a routine to help me get through it. Those were the best words I could have received because I feel so relieved that I stayed true to my process and I put my head down and grinded through it and now we're sitting here a little over a year later and it feels great to be back on the field."

Gonzales (1-0) worked around a two-out single in the first before finding his groove. The 25-year-old southpaw put together three straight 1-2-3 innings, setting down 11 in a row along the way.  
"My main focus has been just on my fastball command. All of my other pitches will fall into place from there," he said. "I've been living in the bottom half of the zone and throwing to both sides of the plate and keeping things simple by just worrying about throwing strike one."
The sixth inning provided Gonzales with his first real jam. After getting Jon Kemmer to ground out, the Gonzaga product walked Astros No. 4 prospect Derek Fisher and allowed a single by Tyler White, prompting a visit from Redbirds pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd.
"He came out and asked how I was feeling and I told him I felt strong, and he could tell by looking at me and he knew I felt strong, too. So he told me just to live low in the zone and to go right after them," Gonzales said.
He heeded Eversgerd's advice and retired the next two Grizzlies to get back to the dugout.
"I stayed loose with my pitches and didn't try to make them nastier than they needed to be," Gonzales said. "When I got out of the inning, I was pretty fired up."

Gonzales got one out in the seventh but was lifted by manager Stubby Clapp after A.J. Reed doubled.
"It felt great, but most importantly, my arm feels great," he said. "My recovery after every game has been nothing short of excellent. I'm putting a lot of my focus on my days off to make sure I'm recovering right."
Gonzales outpitched Astros top prospectFrancis Martes (0-2), who completed five innings for the first time since his first start of the season on April 10. The 21-year-old right-hander gave up two runs on two hits and four walks while striking out seven.