CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's the first time around for Justin Masterson, and he's just going to run with it.
The shoulder juice is in the right place in his surgically repaired left shoulder. He's coming off an Arizona spring when sometimes his pitches sliced and diced and sometimes they were hit a long way.
Typical stuff for Masterson, except for starting Thursday's season opener against Ricky Romero and the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. This is new ground, a challenge to be sure, but something to be savored.
"I've never been there so I can't say how I'll do it," said Masterson. "I think I'll appreciate everything that comes with it. There will be excitement, joy. There will be some nerves and intensity as you go out there."
Masterson always comes at things from a different angle than expected. Throwing the first pitch of the season is no different.
"Part of you is going to just appreciate it and appreciate the moment," he said. "You never know when you'll have it again. Maybe this is my last year playing baseball, whether an injury takes you away or some other circumstance."
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Beneath the anticipated adrenaline and buzz from a sold-out crowd, there is the reason why manager Manny Acta gave Masterson the start. He needs to pitch well against a dangerous Toronto offense and help the Indians start the season in style.
"You realize you have to go out and do your job," said Masterson. "The emotions are going to be there, but it will be a fun experience. That's what will keep things in check is realizing that it is fun, that this is a good time and that we can go out there and try and shine."
Masterson earned the right to face the Blue Jays by going 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA in 34 games, including 33 starts, last year. It was his first full season as a starter after 1 1/2 years of trial and error following the July 31, 2009 trade that brought him to Cleveland from Boston in exchange for Victor Martinez.
With the powerful Red Sox, Masterson pitched where he was needed. Sometimes it was the rotation, more often it was the bullpen. The Indians almost immediately made him a starter.
"Last year was nice," said Masterson, when asked if it gave him confidence, "but [confidence] was already there. My confidence level was and is and, I think always, has to be high. If you lose confidence, that's when you start feeling sorry for yourself. If something goes a little bit wrong than you're as frazzled as you can be."
Masterson was certainly tested after joining the Indians. Last year, he won his first five starts. Then he went 0-6 in his next 11. He had a 3.34 ERA during that stretch, but the offense scored just 22 runs.
In 2009, after he entered the rotation, Masterson ended the season 0-6 in seven starts. In 2010, he went 0-5 in his first 10 starts, making him 0-11 over 17 consecutive starts. It was the longest stretch by a starter without a victory in franchise history. The offense scored 39 runs in those games.
Through it all Masterson's personality didn't change. He stayed calm and cool.
"He keeps his emotions in check," said Acta. "He keeps things in perspective very well. That doesn't mean he's as passive as he looks when he's on the mound."
In the second half of the 2010 season, the 6-6, 250-pound Masterson was able to tame his delivery. Scouts and baseball people kept saying was a right-on-right bullpen guy, not a starter. Masterson, however, made a case for himself as a starter. He carried it into last season for the best year of his career. When it ended, he underwent surgery on his left shoulder to remove a cyst.
Here's how Masterson described the surgery on March 3 when Acta named him the Opening Day starter. "What was fueling the cyst was the tear in the labrum," he said. "My shoulder juice was leaking out of the tear and filling the cyst."
That would be shoulder juice ... as in shoulder juice?
"That's a technical term for you guys," said Masterson. "It was one of those things where you have to repair the leak and get rid of the cyst."
With that cleared up, let the season begin.
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