Quintet of hurlers on road back
Wade, Saito, Penny, Schmidt and Proctor at different stages
PHILADELPHIA -- After Dodgers manager Joe Torre went through the rehab statuses of the injured members of his pitching staff, he realized he could have a lot of depth in his bullpen if all the hurlers return.
But Torre also knows he cannot count on having hurlers such as Takashi Saito, Brad Penny, Jason Schmidt and Scott Proctor returning in September.
The one injured pitcher who figures to be back soon is Cory Wade, who came out of a bullpen session Saturday feeling good after being out since Aug. 8 with right shoulder inflammation.
Wade's next step will be throwing an inning for Class A Great Lakes on Monday. The Dodgers want him to throw 25 pitches and will have him continue his rehab in the bullpen if he gets through a quick inning.
Wade could then return on Wednesday if he comes out of that OK, but he said he may need another rehab appearance on Wednesday, which would put him on pace for a Friday return in Arizona.
The rookie righty said the injury resulted from fatigue and is just one of those things that happens when a young pitcher's innings increase.
"It's just unfortunate that it happened," Wade said.
Proctor (right elbow tendinitis) and Schmidt (shoulder surgery) will also make rehab appearances this week. Proctor will throw an inning on Monday and Schmidt on Tuesday, both likely for Triple-A Las Vegas, Torre said.
Schmidt has twice had rehab stints cut short due to shoulder soreness, and Proctor has had such a stint cut short once.
Penny (right shoulder inflammation) will lightly toss on Sunday, which will be the first time he has thrown a baseball since a six-run, three-inning start on Aug. 13, his second outing since spending almost two months on the DL.
As for Saito (torn right elbow ligament), he will join the club in Arizona next week and throw off a mound for the first time since walking off the hill at Dodger Stadium on July 12.
"I think we'll know more when he pitches off a mound, because it's obviously going to simulate the closest thing to game stuff that he's done so far," Torre said. "We'll just see how he feels, we'll keep our fingers crossed, and hopefully he is healthy in the next couple weeks."
Outfielder Andruw Jones (left knee patellar tendinitis) is continuing to take batting practice and participate in drills, but he likely will not return to Las Vegas' lineup for another few days.
Outfielder Delwyn Young (right oblique strain) went 0-for-14 in his first five rehab games for Las Vegas, but busted out with a 3-for-5 performance with two doubles, a triple and three runs scored on Friday.
Torre said he expects the Dodgers to carry about 32-33 players in September, with depth at every position. He added that Triple-A hurlers Eric Stults and James McDonald will get a look.
"One thing you don't want to do is clutter up," Torre said, "[and add] a lot of guys [who] really aren't going to get any playing time. Pitchers are the ones you've got to make sure you have enough anyway, so when you get some of those games that are out of hand somewhat, you don't have to use guys you use on a regular basis."
