Brandon Webb, John Lackey Among Pitchers Eyeing Successful Comebacks After Missing 2012 Season (Photos)

by Ricky Doyle on Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 12:39PM

Every offseason, without fail, you’ll hear the phrase, “low risk, high reward,” get tossed around. Typically, the return on investment isn’t much, but with minimal consequences, some teams figure they might as well take a shot.

This year, when it comes to potential surprises, there are a few names being tossed around of pitchers who didn’t even step foot on a big league diamond in 2012. In some cases, like the case of Brandon Webb, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2009, the reason is medical. In other instances, like when it comes to former Rays ace Scott Kazmir, the reasoning lies mostly in on-field production.

Oh yeah, then there is the crazy case of Ugueth Urbina, who was recently released from prison after spending almost six years behind bars. While the majors may never be in the cards for Oogie again, the 38-year-old admitted that he wants to return to baseball, so perhaps we’re in line for one of the wildest stories in recent memory.

So after seeing Webb line up for a return, Urbina express his desire to come back and Javier Vazquez, who sat out all of 2012, draw interest from major league teams, we began wondering. Which pitchers who didn’t pitch in 2012 could ultimately return to make an impact in 2013?