Nine months ago, some of Daniel Poncedeleon's loved ones feared he might not walk or talk, let alone pitch, again -- if he survived the effects of the line drive that struck him in the head in a Triple-A game.
Poncedeleon was off to a good start to the season and the game last May 9 for the St. Louis Cardinals' Memphis Redbirds, until a shot off the bat of Iowa's Victor Caratini hit him near his right temple. The right-hander endured emergency surgery to alleviate pressure on his brain, followed by a couple of weeks in intensive care in Des Moines and then three months of inactivity at home in Florida.