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<p>TAMPA, Fla. &#8212; Ben Heller hasn&#8217;t pitched in a game that mattered since Oct. 1, 2017, when he faced the Toronto Blue Jays. It was a scoreless inning and he recorded a strikeout.</p><p>The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders right-handed reliever went into last spring with a more-than-likely chance of making the New York Yankees&#8217; bullpen when camp broke. But he didn&#8217;t make it that far.</p><p>Heller was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a bone spur March 27 and subsequently underwent Tommy John surgery just a couple of weeks later. Now, almost a year later, Heller is back in the Yankees&#8217; spring training clubhouse at George Steinbrenner Field just six weeks away from being ready to pitch to live batters.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just crazy to think that last time I was in a game was 2017. It feels like forever ago,&#8221; Heller told the Times Leader. &#8220;I&#8217;m definitely getting antsy to get back out there. Spring training has been especially testing of my patience because you see all your teammates getting suited up and getting ready to go play, and I want to be there, too. But you just kind of have to pace yourself and trust the processes.&#8221;</p><p>Heller is midway through his bullpen-specific throwing program as he rehabs back from the elbow injury. He&#8217;s been throwing bullpen sessions for six weeks now, which has equated to 10 sessions, and still has six weeks left before he can take on live batters.</p><p>The key right now is to keep building up intensity, whether it be adding more pitches or using more effort.</p><p>Heller takes a big step next week when he adds his slider back into his arsenal. He&#8217;s been throwing only his fastball and changeup up to this point.</p><p>&#8220;Just building it up,&#8221; said Heller, who is 75 percent effort off of the mound and expects to add five to 10 percent a week from here on out. &#8220;The Yankees have their progression. Just kind of, it&#8217;s like every two weeks you add some thing new &#8212; sliders, changeups, increase the intensity. It&#8217;s been going really well.</p><p>&#8220;You just have to keep throwing. It sucks &#8212; like, as a player you want to work harder, get it done faster, get back into games sooner, but, unfortunately, with TJ, really, it just takes time. You have to give the ligament time to heal, time to adapt to the new stresses that you&#8217;re asking it to do.&#8221;</p><p>The big hurdle for Heller will be when he first faces live batters.</p><p>After his six weeks of bullpens, live batters will finally step into the box to face Heller. The reliever assumes that he&#8217;ll have &#8220;a couple weeks of live BP&#8221; before taking part in some extended spring training games and will then finally hit the MiLB trail to partake in some rehab games.</p><p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t faced hitters since last spring,&#8221; Heller said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any way you can simulate the game speed of throwing max effort. You can throw max effort in a bullpen setting, but it&#8217;s not the same of when you&#8217;re in a game. Just building up and getting ready.&#8221;</p><p>Yankees manager Aaron Boone has like what he&#8217;s seen so far from Heller.</p><p>To see this much progression so soon is welcomed, because Boone knows he could need the reliever at some point this season.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s bounced back really well,&#8221; Boone said after Tuesday&#8217;s 8-7 win over the Baltimore Orioles. &#8220;It&#8217;s exciting to see him getting near to the point to where he&#8217;s getting back because it&#8217;s obviously a long road when you go through that. But he&#8217;s a guy that could help us at some point. It&#8217;s good to see him to continue to make those strides back.&#8221;</p><p>With another reminder that there is more to life than just baseball, Heller has made the most of his time away from the game.</p><p>Now that he&#8217;s back, he&#8217;s ready to earn a spot in the Yankees bullpen, something he was close to achieving before he got hurt a year ago.</p><p>&#8220;You know, I think after kind of the initial shock and disappointment of it, really, I think the way to move on from it in a positive way is to look at it as an opportunity to get better,&#8221; Heller said. &#8220;It&#8217;s pretty uncommon to be that long away from games. Like, the traditional offseason is three-four months to kind of get stronger, get more flexible, more explosive. To have 12 months to do that is an unique opportunity and I tried to do that. Just find ways to really get better.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">New York Yankees reliever Ben Heller is working his way back from Tommy John surgery last April. He still has six more weeks before he&#8217;ll face live batters, but next week will start throwing his slider after only using his fastball and changeup the last six weeks of his throwing program. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Ben-Heller.jpg</photo0><caption0>New York Yankees reliever Ben Heller is working his way back from Tommy John surgery last April. He still has six more weeks before he&#8217;ll face live batters, but next week will start throwing his slider after only using his fastball and changeup the last six weeks of his throwing program. </caption0><photoCredit0>John Bazemore | AP file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Yankees’ Ben Heller working way back from Tommy John surgery