There is one more job available in the Phillies' bullpen.
Left-hander J.C. Romero, who is recovering from offseason elbow surgery, said Monday morning at Bright House Field that he does not expect to be ready by Opening Day on April 5 in Washington. He said a more realistic target is the team's first home series April 12-15 against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
If that holds true, the Phillies have two bullpen vacancies, with jobs guaranteed to Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Danys Baez, Chad Durbin and Jose Contreras. That number jumps to three if Lidge, who is recovering from offseason elbow and knee surgeries, is not ready.
Arguably the top candidate for one of those jobs is left-hander Antonio Bastardo, whose chances only improved without Romero in the picture, because the Phillies have no other left-hander in the bullpen. Other candidates include lefties Sergio Escalona and Mike Zagurski and right-handers David Herndon and Scott Mathieson. It also is possible that righty Kyle Kendrick or lefty Jamie Moyer could end up in the bullpen if they don't win the final spot in the rotation.
"I think they can deal without me the first road trip," Romero said. "And that's better for the team."
And for himself.
Romero said he will throw a bullpen session Tuesday. He has thrown only fastballs to this point, but said he could incorporate his changeup in his next session Friday. He said his slider will come later.
Romero also said orthopedist David Altchek, who performed his surgery in October, told him that he would be 100 percent ready to go March 20. Romero said he probably would not begin throwing to hitters until March 22, which certainly would not give him enough time to be ready by April 5.
"We only have one chance to do it right," Romero said. "We're trying to do it right, period. I felt a lot better [in my bullpen session Saturday]. I felt good. -- to the point that [Triple-A Lehigh Valley pitching coach] Rod Nichols told me to slow down a little bit, because my arm was coming through a lot quicker. So I kind of backed off. Everything is moving in the right direction. But to be realistic, I know I want to break camp with the team, but I realize the time is against me. That's not good, but I'm very optimistic about being with the team by the first homestand.
"It doesn't feel bad. It's just that every day, you have to remind yourself, 'You had surgery, so make sure you just do whatever you've got to do to keep it healthy.' Right now, it's healed. It's just everything around it needs to get stronger so I don't aggravate it. It's hard, because I've never been hurt -- that's why I'm trying to be very cautious about it."
No comments:
Post a Comment