Neshek, fellow injurees on slow track to recovery
PHILADELPHIA » If it sometimes seems the Phillies stretch out their rehabiliations for injured players ... well, that’s because they do.
Anyway, Pat Neshek, who at 37 signed a two-year, $16.5 million contract in the offseason so that he could work no more than one eighth-inning per game, is still out. Somewhere. Neshek has been out with a shoulder injury since spring training. It was announced earlier this month via manager Gabe Kapler that he had a setback of sorts, something to do with a flexor strain in his forearm.
So Friday, Kapler really let loose with the info, informing everyone that Neshek, “Played catch today. Looked great.” Ah, but that’s not all.
“We’re moving closer to a bullpen,” Kapler said, “and he’s going to come on the road with us.”
Nice to be out on the road. Togetherness, bonding at the team meals and all that.
Neshek showed last season how valuable his presence as a premier set-up man can be. At least he did until being traded at the July 31 non-waiver deadline. That’s why he was signed in December. His extended injury absence has only had minimal negative effect, because the Phillies’ bullpen and their pitching staff in general has been so much better than anticipated these first two months of the season.
But certainly adding a Neshek to that mix might make life a little easier for the varied late-inning team of Hector Neris, Edubray Ramos and aptly named rookie Seranthony Dominguez. In that respect then, making sure Neshek is 100 percent before returning is the smart thing to do.
Does seem to take a while for these smart rehabs to run their course, though.
*** Another of the injured, shortstop J.P. Crawford, has had an unexpected May vacation in Florida. He’s been down there also working his way back — very slowly, of course — from a forearm strain.
A month post-injury, Crawford took some swings in Clearwater Monday that gave one video viewer reason to be excited.
“J.P.’s rehab continues to go well,” Kapler noted. “From Clearwater we watched his at-bats yesterday. They were awesome. And his defensive work continues to improve and everything’s on the right track.”
Yet Kapler didn’t detail where that track would lead Crawford to, or when.
Asked about the length of time it took for Crawford to get to this stage, Kapler added, “I think we’re just kind of moving him along at his pace, what’s appropriate for him. Things are kind of progressing naturally, we’re not slowing it down or making it go faster.”
*** One guy who would normally have benefited from Crawford’s absence was Scott Kingery, a second-basemen by trade and an everyman rookie with a bright future on Kapler’s club. But Kingery, allowed to man the shortstop spot as a bit of a regular the past month, hasn’t responded well.
He was hitting at a .192 clip during the month of May heading into Friday’s game. Kingery (.213/.263/.333) did not start in the series opener against the Blue Jays, but did enter the game via a double change to start the seventh inning, replacing Maikel Franco at third base. He’d go 0-for-1 with a walk, and an upbeat mood.
“I feel more hitterish at the plate right now, you know?” Kingery said after the 6-5 Phillies loss to the Blue Jays. “Before ... I didn’t feel as comfortable, or have the good feeling; feel like a hitter in the box.”
*** NOTES » Kapler said pitcher Jerad Eickhoff, another long-time rehabber with a recent setback (tingling in his fingers), had pursued a second medical opinion but added, “we don’t have a long-term plan in place” yet.
“He’s still here,” Kapler said. “He had some tests done on the offday (Thursday), we’re just not quite there in terms of what the next steps are and what the plan is.” ... Blue Jays pitcher Sam Gaviglio had his first career double off Zach Eflin in the second inning. He hesitated before moving to second although he had plenty of time to go there. Then Eflin responded with his first home run of the season in the third. To that point, the Phils hadn’t had a hit off Gaviglio.