ATLANTA -- Chris Young expressed satisfaction with his first season after returning from surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his pitching shoulder.

"All in all, there were some really good things," Young said after limiting the Braves to two runs in six innings in his final 2012 start, a 2-0 loss. "It was a great year, to bounce back. ... When I decided to have the surgery and rehab, I knew it would be a long process. I knew there would be some bumps in the road. But I really believed that if I dedicated myself to it that I could be a very competitive and successful major league pitcher. My record might not show it, but I feel like I proved that.

"My velocity is up probably 3 mph, maybe 4 mph since I first broke in [in June]. It's just like I said all along: Everybody who's had major shoulder surgery told me that it would take a full two years. I made it back at 12½ months. It was a work in progress. I was competitive. I wasn't dominant. Right now, to end the season, I feel like I ended on a very good note. I feel like I pitched very well the last five starts. It's something to build on. Hopefully with a little bit of time off and more strengthening this offseason, I'll get back to where I truly want to be next year.

"This will be an offseason where I don't have to rehab," he continued. "I've been throwing since Oct. 15 of last year. It's almost a full year I've been throwing and rehabbing. I'll give my arm a little bit of rest right now and then start building up the arm strength again. And it will be nice not to have to rehab for once. It will be a change for me. I can work on mechanics. I can work on other things. I can work on my pitches and stuff. I fully expect it to show next season."

Said Terry Collins: "I told him after the game was over I was very impressed with the way he went about the whole year. He said before he wanted to get 20 starts. He got 20. And they were very, very good starts. His record didn't indicate it, but we didn't get him a lot of run support. But he did a very good job, and I'm very happy he made it through the year healthy.

"His last two starts his velocity climbed. His velocity was up 3, 4 mph, which I was very impressed with."