Matt Cain showed off the bone chips that were removed from his elbow

Matt Cain‘s season might be over, but he still had occasion to visit his San Francisco Giants teammates this week. From the sounds of things, Cain was showing good spirits in his return.

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Those vibes were likely due to the fact that he had successful surgery on his pitching elbow and can start looking forward to getting healthy for next season, but that’s not the only reason Cain was happy. He was also excited to show his teammates something gross.

That something gross would be the actual bone chips that were removed from his elbow in the operation. Cain was reportedly carrying the chips around in a jar and gleefully showing them off to anybody who cared to look (and probably some people who didn’t want to as well).

Andrew Baggarly passes along further details about the visit:

"Cain was “very upbeat, very excited” as he met with teammates Tuesday and showed off the chips with morbid fascination.“They’re pretty big,” Bochy said. “It’s amazing the guy (was) pitching when you see the size of the chips in the jar.”"

It is amazing, but it might also explain why Cain was pitching so poorly. In 15 starts he was 2-7 with a 4.18 ERA and a 4.58 FIP (fielding independent pitching). To throw again with a clean bill of health next season will hopefully be what it takes for Cain to look like the pitcher who earned an eight-year, $139 million deal back in 2010.

And who knows, maybe the bone chips will be some sort of lucky charm or something for a Giants team that desperately needs a boost during these dog days of the 2014 season.