Hellickson healing; next up: curveballs

PHILADELPHIA — Just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jeremy Hellickson ducked away from a beating afternoon sun and into the visitors’ clubhouse at Citizens Bank

Park. Sweat dripped off the pitcher’s chin and onto the carpet. Hellickson then encountered Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez in a narrow hallway, and a big smile spread across Martinez’s face.

“Feeling good, Helly?” Martinez asked, his arms stretched out as if he were about to go in for a hug.

Hellickson, always calm, nodded yes before heading toward his locker. He had just finished throwing his first bullpen session since Aug. 18, when he went on the disabled list with a right wrist sprain. He threw 30 total pitches, but he was only able to toss fastballs and change-ups because throwing a curveball is still painful.

Hellickson sprained his wrist when he stumbled while covering home plate in an Aug. 15 start against the St. Louis Cardinals. His spot in the rotation has since been filled by Jefry Rodriguez — who notched the longest outing of his major league career when he threw six scoreless innings Sunday — but Hellickson is inching toward a September return.

The right-hander, 31, is 5-3 with a 3.57 ERA in 18 starts this season. He made a DL stint earlier this summer with a mild hamstring strain and had turned in spotty results after returning to the rotation.

“I’m pretty good about listening to my body and not trying to push it,” Hellickson said. “But at the same time, there’s only a month left, so you want to try to get back out there as soon as you can.”

The Nationals might have a crowded rotation in the coming weeks, with both Hellickson and Joe Ross progressing toward the major league mound. Ross, who has missed all of this season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, is likely closer to returning. He threw six innings — his longest rehab start yet — for the Class AAA Syracuse Chiefs on Monday, and Martinez said recently that Ross could join the team once it expands its roster after this coming Monday. Whether Martinez uses Ross as a starter or reliever could largely depend on when Hellickson comes off the DL.

Hellickson would be a welcome addition to the Nationals’ fleeting push back into the playoff picture. Hellickson has thrown his curveball 23.8 percent of the time this season, according to FanGraphs, which is the highest rate of his nine-year career. It is only the second time in his career that his curve makes up more than 20 percent of his total pitches. He will now have to throw it pain-free, or at least relatively so, before he gets any closer to a return.

“It feels good when I just kind of cast it, so I think it’s just trying to get the hard curveball down,” Hellickson said of the motion that is giving him trouble. “We’ll see how it feels, if it’s achy or not.”

Hellickson