Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Bauer throws off mound as he recovers from broken leg
Trevor Bauer moved a little closer to pitching in the postseason, throwing 40 pitches off the mound inside an empty Progressive Field on Saturday.
It was a positive step in the All-Star righthander’s recovery from a broken leg that has kept him out of the rotation for more than a month.
Bauer has been sidelined since Aug. 11 with a stress fracture in his right leg, which happened when he was struck by a line drive in Chicago. This past week, he completed a bullpen session in Tampa and followed it with a workout that was closely monitored by team president Chris Antonetti, pitching coach Carl Williams and team trainers.
“Felt good,” Bauer said afterward. “Mechanics were a little out of sequence, but I haven’t really been on a mound a whole lot in a month and a half. I expect those will come back pretty quickly. Physically it felt good.”
Bauer said it was difficult to replicate game conditions, but he did all he could to mimic competing against major league hitters in a loud ballpark.
“There’s no adrenaline in a bullpen session,” he said. “As much as you try to compete with yourself or trick yourself mentally or whatever, it’s just not there. So hopefully I can face hitters next, get some people out here talking and yelling at some hitters, stuff like that, try to get the adrenaline up.
“That’d be nice.”
The Indians think it would be nice if they could count on Bauer in October. The 27-yearold was having his best season and had moved into Cy Young consideration when he was nailed by a line drive hit by Chicago’s Jose Abreu.
Bauer remains miffed about the course of his season. Now, though, his focus is getting back and helping anyway he can — whether it’s starting or in relief.
■ Washington pitcher Jeremy Hellickson may miss the rest of the season after reinjuring his right wrist while batting in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Hellickson sprained his wrist on Aug. 15 when he landed awkwardly while covering home plate after throwing a wild pitch at St. Louis.
He made his first appearance since and got hurt again. The 2011 AL Rookie of the Year is scheduled for an MRI on Sunday.
Hellickson missed 22 games in June because of a right hamstring strain. He is 5-3 with a 3.45 ERA in 19 starts.
■ With New York third baseman David Wright announcing this past week that he would retire at the end of the season, the Red Sox gave him a No. 5 from the Fenway Park scoreboard. Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, a teammate of Wright’s from the 2009 World Baseball Classic, presented it to him after batting practice.
“Pedroia sent me a text that he’d like to get together kind of privately. It was really cool, a really cool gesture,” Wright said. “It’s usually a lot more trash talk, but this is the first time that he actually hasn’t been mean to me. So it was kind of nice.”
■ Arizona placed righthanded pitcher Clay Buchholz on the 60-day disabled list with a right elbow flexor strain.
Buchholz, 34, was 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA in 16 starts for Arizona this season and was a late scratch from his last scheduled start Thursday in Colorado.
■ Houston right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. pitched a bullpen session at the team’s spring training facility in Florida, facing one hitter and mixing in all of his pitches, manager A.J. Hinch said.
■ Chicago manager Joe Maddon said Kyle Schwarber could be cleared for pinch hitting this weekend and return to the lineup when the Cubs travel to Arizona for a threegame series starting Monday.
Maddon also expects outfielder Jason Heyward to return during the series against the Diamondbacks.
Nationals: Mets: Diamondbacks: Astros: Cubs: