Diamondbacks' Arroyo hoping not to 'fade out of the game' with return from Tommy John

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Bronson Arroyo landed on the disabled list for the first time in 15 big league seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July, and the 37-year-old has been less than impressed with the long lay off. 

"It's not cool," Arroyo told Nick Piecoro of azcentral. "But I just flipped my brain into vacation mode. I just said, 'I'll take a year off. I'm just going to have a good time. I'll go to the casino and watch some music shows and try to come back and pitch a little bit longer than I otherwise would have.'

"Having that reprieve, it's like, it's not that cool to be retired, so they're probably going to have to kick me off the field like Jamie Moyer."

Arroyo's agent said last month that the pitcher should be ready for Opening Day, though Arroyo acknowledged this week that he won't begin throwing until January. 

Set to turn 38 in February, Arroyo will be one of the oldest pitchers in the majors next season. Despite his durability over his career, the combination of coming back from a major injury and seeing several other of his pitching peers retire recently has Arroyo questioning what his future holds. 

"It's going to be a new experience for me from here on out," Arroyo said. "I'm watching guys like Beckett at 36 retire and tell me stuff like, 'It's taking me four hours to get ready for a two-hour game, and I just can't do this anymore.' Guys like Derek Lowe at 38, the age I'll be next year, slowly fade out of the game, and it's going to be tricky to see if, after an injury, I can not do that, not fade, come back and be the same guy I have been.

"I feel like I've lived a bit of a different life than the average guy in the game, taking care of myself and staying youthful and maybe not having a family and being a bit different. I think I can pull it off, but it's a road I haven't been down, so we'll see."