Former University of Maine All-American Billy Swift of the Colorado Rockies, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder to remove damaged tissue in June, said he has begun throwing and is hoping to return to action in September.

“They’re talking about sending me to a rehab assignment (in the minor leagues) around the 12th of August but if the arm isn’t strong enough, I’m not going to do it,” said Swift, the National League’s Cy Young Award runner-up in 1993 when he went 21-8 for San Francisco. “I threw 50 pitches on Monday and the arm feels okay. There’s no pain. But I’ve got to rebuild the strength.”

Swift said he has been trying to throw as hard as he can “but I haven’t had a lot on it.”

He intends to throw every other day and he will add 10 pitches each outing. Swift said his sinker was clocked in the low- to mid-80s on Monday.

Swift, who is 78-62 in his major league career, has made just one appearance this season. But even without him and Bret Saberhagen, the Rockies began Thursday’s play just one game behind NL West leader San Diego.

“It’s been surprising, especially playing as badly as we have on the road. But if we can stay in the race, I’m sure they’ll rush me back,” chuckled Swift, who was 9-3 with a 4.94 earned run average during an injury-marred 1995 season.

He is cautiously optimistic about his future.

“Hopefully, the surgery took care of the problem. But you never know. You don’t know until you get back into games. We’ll see how it responds after a game,” said Swift, who will turn 35 in October.