|
03/18/2004 4:29 PM ET
Lilly slowly shaping up again
|
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com |
 |
|
|
 |
|
| "I felt good. I wasn't throwing with any pain," Ted Lilly said. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
|
|
|
|
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- At this advanced stage of Spring Training, Ted Lilly will take any small sign of progress. Toronto's only southpaw starter got one on Thursday, when he threw live batting practice for the first time as a Blue Jay.
Lilly has been limited by a sore wrist all spring, and he has fallen behind the rest of the starting staff. Most of the other pitchers have made at least three appearances, but Lilly won't see his first game action until next week at the earliest. Still, throwing against live batters was an encouraging sign, even if it was just 25 pitches.
"I felt good. I wasn't throwing with any pain," he said. "It was good for me to get out there and realize how far away I am from really getting in shape. At the same time, I feel like I have a chance to get there by the end of Spring Training."
The end of the exhibition season is just two weeks away, but barring any setbacks, Lilly will make three starts. That would get him up into the 50-to-60 pitch range, which would be enough to let him start the first week of the season. Still, the left-hander knows that rushing back is a bad idea if it endangers the rest of his season.
"At this point, I'm just going to listen to my body. Right now, I feel good. From here on, I'm going to do anything I can to get ready for the season," he said. "There's no doubt it's been frustrating. I've got to look at it like, if I'm going to miss something, I'd rather miss Spring Training than the season."
That's the exact tack the Jays want to take -- they're going to err on the side of caution. They're not going to send him to the mound until they're sure he's ready to pitch.
"He wants to go faster and we're letting him go as fast as we think he should go," said Toronto manager Carlos Tosca. "If we have to back him off, we will."
The man who oversees that process, pitching coach Gil Patterson, is as careful as they come. His own career was cut short by multiple surgeries, and he always watches his pitchers with empathy and added caution.
This case is no exception: Even though Lilly's wrist injury was relatively minor, Patterson takes the recovery process very seriously.
|
News
