Results tagged ‘ disabled list ’
Ohlendorf out until at least mid may
Right-hander Ross Ohlendorf, who was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder posterior strain, expects to be out until at least mid May.
Ohlendorf told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune on Monday, “Hopefully, I’ll be back in about a month. But it’s still too early to really know for sure.”
Ohlendorf was pulled after throwing 2.2 innings on April 8th against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park after feeling discomfort.
Sunday, Ohlendorf made 50 tosses from 60 feet on flat ground. He is scheduled to throw from 75 feet today.
Ohlendorf told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, I need to get up to 120 feet, and the plan for that is about two weeks from now.
Right-handers Jeff Karstens and Brad Lincoln (Triple-A Indianapolis) and lefty Brian Burres (Triple-A) are being considered to start in the rotation.
Karstens allowed five runs on eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts over 4.1 innings against the Reds. It was his first start of the season.
Lincoln allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over five innings against the Louisville bats on April 15th.
Burres is not on the 40-man roster, so if they Pirates went with the lefty, they would have remove someone off the roster. Burres threw a four hit shutout with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings against the Louisville Bats on April 17th.
Ohlendorf making progress
Right-hand Pitcher Ross Ohlendorf (Right shoulder posterior strain) made 50 tosses from 60 feet on flat ground on Sunday.
General Manager Neal Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune that he is “making solid progress”. There is no timetable as to when Ohlendorf will be able to throw off mound.
Ohlendorf is eligible to come off the disabled list on April 24th.
Morton hopes to rebound in 2011
With the new year looming and spring training less than 10 weeks away, the Pirates look to have four starters locked for 2011.
Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Kevin Correia and James McDonald seem to be the favored starters for the Bucs, although nothing has been officially announced.
That leaves one spot left, with plenty of arms to compete in spring training.
Charlie Morton hopes to rebound from a horrible 2010 season.
“When you know you can do well and you prepare to do well and you go out and struggle like I did, that makes it pretty hard,” Morton said. “I was really excited coming into this year and it just didn’t get me anywhere. It was tough.”
Morton was acquired by the Atlanta Braves in June of 2009 and had high expectations by the Pirates. He finished 5-9 with a 4.55 ERA.
A horrible first part of the 2010 season, Morton picked up nine losses and had an ERA of 9.35. By May 28th, he was put on the Disabled list for right shoulder fatigue and by July 2nd, he was sent to the minors.
“I think I let the results dictate how I felt on the mound, and that, in turn, led me to be in a place that when I was on the mound and things weren’t going right, it all kind of compounded,” Morton said. “It got harder and harder. And I’m not talking harder outing-to-outing. I’m talking harder pitch-to-pitch. You’re looking in and not believing. I definitely have to rethink and reanalyze what I was trying to do out there. At the end, I’d be looking at video of myself and you could see in my face the doubt.”
A lack of confidence was a major contributor of his disastrous starts and he began to doubt his future as a pitcher.
“I had a lot of questions about myself when I was in Triple-A and not pitching well,” Morton said. “I had a lot of doubts. When I started pitching better, I started feeling better about baseball, but I didn’t feel better about my career. I’m at the stage in my career where it’s, ‘Can you pitch in the big leagues? Or can you not pitch in the big leagues?’”
In the final two months with the Pirates (five starts) he finished with a 3.99 ERA, his record 2-12 with a 7.57 ERA.
Morton has spent the offseason pitching in Winter Ball where he allowed three runs through 15 innings, striking out 14 and walking two.
“We’re moving in the right direction, and winter ball is just going to help build on that,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “He’s made some mechanical adjustments. He’s believing more. He’s being more aggressive. He’s trusting the stuff more. He’s taken some nice steps forward.”
With just one option remaining, Morton has a lot to prove in Spring Training if he wants to be the fifth starter in 2011. The Pirates, however, haven’t given up on him just yet.
“I’ve learned that you can’t think about things long-term,” Morton said. “You can have goals and long-term dreams, but just looking at my next start and going out there and trying to execute pitches is the most important thing.
“Do I want the guys in this clubhouse and coaches’ locker room to count on me? Yeah, I want that responsibility. But when I start moving forward that can’t be the only thing on my mind. It has to be me taking care of what I need to take care of. Whether that leads me to a certain position on the staff or wherever, I can’t really focus on that.”
Kristy Robinson
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