Four years, seven months and four days will have passed between pitcher Matt Bush's last minor league appearance and his first chance to pitch in the minors again when the Frisco RoughRiders open their season on Thursday.

Bush, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft by the San Diego Padres, went to prison in 2012 after pleading no contest to one count of DUI with great bodily injury. He spent just under three years in prison and was released in October.

But Bush never stopped his training while incarcerated and upon his release began a workout regimen with pitching coach Dominic Johnson, who works with numerous college and minor league pitchers in Southern California. It wasn't long before Major League teams came to watch him throw and before you knew it he was signed to play with the Rangers.

So he showed up to camp in Surprise, Arizona, and the strangest thing happened -- he threw harder than he did before his four-year hiatus from baseball, consistently up in the high 90s and even touching 100 on the radar gun.

"I've thrown as hard as I have been middle season on moving forward. But now it seems like every time I go out it's upper-90s," Bush marveled Tuesday at the RoughRiders' media day. "I'm surprising myself but at the same time looking back on it, for those four years I was away from the game I really worked hard. I did a lot of conditioning and a lot of strength training. My body is changed, a little older now so I feel stronger.

"It's still there. It's exciting. Sometimes releasing the ball it surprises me when it gets in the catcher's glove."

It caught the attention of those with their eye on the Cactus League, as well. Bush consistently impressed while on the mound in Arizona. Some expect him to make the Major League team sooner rather than later.

"When you have a guy like Bush throwing that hard, being effective and throwing hard -- he's not just throwing, he's pitching too -- it's nice to see," said RoughRiders manager Joe Mikulik.

To be known as a pitcher and not just a hurler is important for Bush. The fastball is a set up for his curve, which he can throw at different speeds. He takes pride in directing the ball to the bottom of the strike zone.

"The main focus is where I'm throwing the pitch. In this day and age I'm not the only one who throws hard so hitters have seen guys like me before," Bush said. "It just all depends on how you can mix in off-speed and also where you're throwing the fastball...understanding too that I have a good defense behind me. I don't have to strike everybody out. It just helps the game go by quicker."

Bush will come out of the bullpen for the RoughRiders as he tries to make his Major League debut with the Rangers. If and when that moment comes, it will bring a certain amount of vindication for Bush after his journey.

"To be able to show and to prove not only to myself but fans and everyone in general, my family, that I can make it. I'm not the guy that everyone wrote off from the beginning. I'm still here, I'm still healthy," Bush said. "It's just a matter of doing what I need to do to succeed."