Ted Lilly, who battled neck pain during the 2013 season, is preparing to return to Major League Baseball by re-establishing his form in Venezuela.
Lilly met a cervical spine specialist and those visits led to a procedure that cauterized the nerve endings on the right side of his neck. Though it's not considered surgery, doctors used a large needle to burn the nerve endings on Lilly's neck.
"That procedure has given him relief," agent Larry O'Brien said.
Lilly, whose three-year $33 million contract expired this year, intends to pitch at the MLB level again.