Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis tries to be optimistic about his achy left shoulder.

It's not easy.

With surgery looming, Francis threw 25 pitches off a bullpen mound Tuesday that he said "felt like about 75."

He is scheduled for another bullpen session Thursday, which has been looming as a potential day for a decision on whether he will undergo surgery, although Francis is reluctant to say it's a drop-dead deadline.

There has been speculation Francis could be recovered from surgery for a torn left labrum by September, which would allow him to pitch the final month of the season and clear his mind for the offseason about his ability to return in 2010.

But Francis said he has been led to believe shoulder surgery at this point would end his season.

"If I thought I could be back in five or six months, I would have had it long before now so I could get back sooner in the season," Francis said. "I think we have plenty of time to give the shoulder a little more of a chance to be better."

A week ago, Francis was upbeat. After his first throwing session in spring training, he said his shoulder felt better than it had the previous week. But Tuesday, Francis was back in limbo.

"It felt better than two weeks ago, but it was the same as last Monday," he said. "Maybe I am overthinking things. I just want to do my job. I don't want to go through last summer again."

Last summer, Francis struggled for the first time in memory.

A first-round draft choice of the Rockies and the ninth player taken in 2002, Francis was in the big leagues by the end of the 2004 season. He tied a Rockies single- season record with 17 victories in 2007, giving him 44 wins in his first three full seasons.

He was slotted to be the Opening Day starter in 2008, but that game was rained out after getting started and Francis had to wait until Game 5 to make his first start.

Maybe it was an omen of what lie ahead. Francis went 4-10 in 2008, coming away with a loss or no-decision in 10 starts in which he allowed three earned runs or fewer, and he was a far cry from the pitcher the Rockies aligned to start Game 1 in all three postseason series in 2007.

He spent nearly six weeks (June 29 to Aug. 6) on the disabled list because of left shoulder inflammation, made seven starts after returning to the active roster, then was sidelined again for the final three weeks of the regular season.

An offseason built around resting the shoulder and building strength in it failed to alleviate the shoulder pains. He has undergone a magnetic resonance imaging exam that showed "normal wear and tear," but through the years, MRIs often have failed to expose labrum tears.

Former Rockies right-hander John Thomson went through more than a year of hearing he merely needed to strengthen his shoulder before Dan O'Dowd, in his first year as general manager, suggested exploratory surgery that uncovered the labrum tear.

A labrum tear frequently results in a loss of velocity and a lack of command, the two main problems Francis faced last season when he allowed 216 baserunners in 1432/3 innings.

"We are just taking it a day at a time with Jeff," O'Dowd said. "It's really out of our hands. It's in the medical people's hands. They are trying to put things together."

What is certain is Francis won't be on the active roster Opening Day.

"I don't think that's even a slight possibility," he said. "I'm at least a month behind schedule, and I'm not even sure when I will get on a normal schedule."

Tuesday's bullpen session didn't provide any answers.

"The strange thing is that I go along, nothing improving, and without changing my program, and all of a sudden last week it is incrementally better," Francis said. "Then (Tuesday) there's no improvement."

Instead of taking the anticipated step forward, Francis said he "had some pain warming up, during (the bullpen session) and after. It's achy."