Neshek’s comeback itinerary still flexible
PHILADELPHIA » It’s been about seven months since he signed a significant contract to return to Philadelphia, a two-year, $16.5 million haul for a now 37-yearold one-inning-pony of a reliever.
It’s been since March 30 that he has experienced health issues, going on the 10-day DL with what was described as a shoulder strain. It was about five weeks later when word came of another problem, this time a flexor muscle strain while throwing in the bullpen.
Flash forward another five weeks or so, and Pat Neshek still hasn’t thrown a real pitch for the Phillies this season.
But he’s getting there. He’s getting there . ... He is getting there, isn’t he?
“Ah, I don’t know. I mean, I’m going to go with how I feel,” Neshek said Monday. “The plan initially was five (rehab) outings. It’s been three months, I don’t know. Maybe I will feel good after the next (minor league rehab assignment). It’s going to be more how my rhythm is, how my stamina is. I feel real good arm-wise. But when you come in you get in a routine. And I need to get that routine going. So it might be one more (rehab start). It might be a couple more. It might be four more, I don’t know.”
Mind you, this is not an innings eater we’re talking about here. Neshek is a submarining set-up specialist — (though he indicated Monday he’d have no problem being a co-closer, saying, “I do whatever the manager needs me to do, I’ve always done that.”) — who is good for one inning and one inning only per outing.
On Tuesday, he’s said to be good to pitch in Reading. One inning of course, and it’ll be his second rehab outing, the first being Saturday night in Clearwater. He fared well there, but there’s no telling how well Los Angeles San Francisco Colorado San Diego
Sunday’s games
Cincinnati 8, Chicago Cubs 6
L.A. Dodgers 8, N.Y. Mets 7, 11 innings Arizona 3, Pittsburgh 0
Atlanta 7, Baltimore 3
St. Louis 8, Milwaukee 2
Miami 8, Colorado 5
San Francisco 3, San Diego 2, 11 innings Washington 8, Philadelphia 6
Monday’s games
N.Y. Yankees at Philadelphia Arizona at Miami Pittsburgh at N.Y. Mets Washington at Tampa Bay Cincinnati at Atlanta
San Diego at Texas Cleveland at St. Louis Chicago Cubs at L.A. Dodgers
Tuesday’s games
41 40 38 35 35 39 40 45 .539 2 1⁄2 .506 5 .487 6 1⁄2 .438 101⁄2 Washington (Scherzer 10-3) at Tampa Bay (Eovaldi 1-3), 12:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Severino 11-2) at Philadelphia he has to fare before getting (and giving) the green light for active duty.
“It was good. I felt really good,” Neshak said of his Saturday throws in Clearwater. “I could have used a little more on the miles-per-hour. That’s part of getting back into it. You can rush yourself. But, yeah, it felt good. My slider was really good. I faced three lefties. I had a two-seamer going. A good change-up. So it was a lot of fun. It was really hot, too.”
One interesting aspect of this long spell of injury activity is how much time Neshek has had to work on his arsenal. According to manager Gabe Kapler, he’s been developing a twoseam fastball to be effective against left-handed hitters.
Neshek hinted the injury — more specifically, the setback in May — was more serious than first reported.
“I had tears in my arm,” Neshek said. “(So) it’s a process. I mean, I tried before. I had tears in my shoulder and I ended up tearing (the flexor muscle in the forearm) trying to rush myself back quick. But I want to get back here as soon as I can.” (Arrieta 5-5), 7:05 p.m. Arizona (Godley 8-5) at Miami (Hernandez 0-4), 7:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Kuhl 5-5) at N.Y. Mets (Matz 3-5), 7:10 p.m.
Cincinnati (Harvey 2-5) at Atlanta (Sanchez 3-1), 7:35 p.m.
San Diego (Ross 5-5) at Texas (BibensDirkx 1-1), 8:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Junis 5-8) at Milwaukee (Peralta 2-0), 8:10 p.m. Cleveland (Kluber 11-3) at St. Louis (Martinez 3-4), 8:15 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Lester 9-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Stripling 6-2), 10:10 p.m. Colorado (Bettis 5-1) at San Francisco (Holland 5-7), 10:15 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Cincinnati at Atlanta, 12:10 p.m. Kansas City at Milwaukee, 2:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Philadelphia, 7:05 p.m. Arizona at Miami, 7:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.
San Diego at Texas, 8:05 p.m. Cleveland at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m. Chicago Cubs at L.A. Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. Colorado at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.