It's hard to be optimistic with so many pitchers going down. Take Bieber, for instance. He spent half of last season rehabbing - no surgery. He had two solid starts at the end of the season. In the off-season he went to a pitching academy and worked on his delivery. He added a couple of mph to his fastball and sharpened up his breaking stuff.
First start of the season he went six shutout innings, striking out 11. But the next day his arm was sore. He started one more game, which made it worse. Now he's getting TJ.
What Williams is going through sounds like the same story. Arm pain, rest and rehab, gradual build up, everything feels good, but when you finally take it out on the freeway smoke starts coming out of the engine.
I want to be optimistic but just can't.