The Houston Astros told Tip Fairchild it would be like getting back behind the wheel after being in a car accident.

All of the hard work the Monmouth righthander had done in rehab helped his body recover from the trauma of undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of 2007. He still had to overcome the psychological trauma of having his right elbow cut open and having his ulnar collateral ligament replaced by a tendon from his left arm.

“I had no idea how the mental part of this would go,” he said.

Fairchild, 24, had mental and physical obstacles to overcome throughout the season, but he made it through the most trying year of his baseball life healthy, which is what he and the Astros felt was most important.

“They just stuck with me there and said, ‘Hey, it’s a learning year. We want you to pitch against this competition. We know you’re going to get ripped sometimes and sometimes you’re going to pitch well. Just go out there and pitch and stay healthy,'” he said.

Fairchild started the season in extended spring training in Florida, where he threw about 35 innings, then reported to the Astros’ Double-A affiliate in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he had been pitching when he was shut down to undergo surgery last year. He made a couple of strong starts for the Hooks, then began experiencing elbow fatigue. It only caused him to miss one start, but the fatigue lingered for much of the season.

“Some days I felt real good and some days I felt like I hadn’t thrown the ball in a year-and-a-half,” he said. “What it came down to is I’d been working out for 14, 15 months and I’d been throwing for a year straight without any breaks. My arm was pretty tired sometimes, but sometimes it was real strong, especially toward the end of the season. My last couple of outings, I was probably throwing the ball as hard as I’ve thrown it since the injury.”

Fairchild spent his last few outings coming out of the bullpen. The Astros placed a 100-inning limit on him for the season, which he was rapidly approaching by August. His numbers out of the pen improved slightly (1-1, 8.22 ERA, one save in 12 games) over his stats as a starter (1-7, 9.16 ERA in 10 games).

He struggled the most, both physically and mentally, when he would get into jams. Opponents hit .333 against him with runners on base.

“The times that I pitched real well was when I was out there and my mind was free, and I was just letting the ball go like how I know I can,” he said. “The times that I’d struggle would be when a couple of guys would get on, and I’d try to reach down for something more and there’s not more there right now. Next year, I’ll be able to reach down and get a little bit more.”

Fairchild and the Astros hope a quiet offseason will help him do that. He’ll work out, play some golf, hold some clinics locally, and complete his degree in business at the University of Southern Maine. One thing he won’t be doing for virtually the rest of 2008 is throwing a baseball. After spending more than a year on strengthening his elbow, the Astros want him to give it a rest.

“Everyone else had only been throwing for six or seven months by the end of the season. I’d been throwing for over a year,” Fairchild said. “They want to give me plenty of time off. After that, as far as whether they want me to report early for spring training or in the middle of February, we’ll play it by ear.”