Chase Dollander hits the six-week mark Monday since undergoing internal brace surgery on his right elbow. He spoke with reporters at Coors Field on Friday.

He has his full range of motion back and is into the strengthening phase.

“Mentally, I’m in a great spot,” Dollander said. “Taking it day by day. Things are chugging right along. Got full range of motion back, working on strengthening everything up.”

On next season

Asked whether he’s looking ahead, Dollander said he is.

“I’m looking forward to next year. It’s looking like I’m gonna have a pretty normal offseason, so I’ll be right in line to be able to be pitching in game right when the season starts.”

Asked whether that means rehab games, a minor league assignment, or something else: “Whatever happens.”

On the recovery window itself, Dollander said the internal brace runs shorter than a full reconstruction.

“With the internal brace, it’s a little shorter than the full reconstruction. So it’s like an eight to 10 to 12 month recovery, depending on how it goes.”

On the stretch before surgery

Dollander said the weeks when it was unclear whether the ligament would heal on its own were the hardest part of the whole thing.

“That waiting period was probably the hardest part of it all. Not having any answers. We were just kind of waiting to see if this thing was going to heal or not, and it didn’t. My body wasn’t — I didn’t feel good mentally. I wasn’t sleeping good at night. A lot of things were compounding.”

Once the decision was made, he said, it turned.

“That day, I actually smiled for the first time in a while,” Dollander said. “I’m just at peace with it, knowing that I’m on the road to recovery and I’m on the road to being back.”

He said he slept through the night for the first time in a while once the surgery was scheduled.

On the rehab group in Arizona

Dollander identified several teammates rehabbing alongside him at the complex, and pushed back on the idea that the process has been isolating.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of guys in rehab in Arizona right now, so it’s not very lonely. We have RJ [Petit] and Pierson [Ohl] down there. We have Adam Laskey, Brody Brecht, a bunch of guys that are down there getting after it.”

He said the group has built a habit of marking each other’s progress.

“Whether a guy starts to throw or a guy starts to run, we’re making sure to celebrate that. Just make sure that each and every guy that’s there knows that they’re cared for.”