Mitre a Week From Throwing, Other Injured Fish at Various Stages

[JJ]

Sergio Mitre, who opened the season on the disabled list, is a week away from resuming basic throwing activities.

Entering Spring Training, the Marlins viewed Mitre as a top of the rotation right-hander. But he felt right forearm discomfort in his first Spring Training start.

An MRI late in Spring Training revealed a forearm strain. He has been on a no-throw schedule for four to six weeks. With hopes that he begins throwing in a week, the earliest Mitre would likely be ready to join the Marlins would be in June.

In other injury-related news, reliever Lee Gardner, who went on the DL on April 18 with elbow inflammation, is still in a no-throw stage.

Josh Johnson, building back from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, is throwing bullpen sessions twice a week, and his next bullpen is slated for Tuesday. If Johnson pitches this season, it likely would be in September.

Anibal Sanchez, healing from shoulder surgery, is also throwing bullpens a couple of times a week. He next throws off the mound on Tuesday. An optimistic time frame for the right-hander's return is the All-Star break.

Center fielder Alejandro De Aza, who is out with a left ankle sprain, is doing range-of-motion activities. He still has a ways to go before being ready.

Reliever Henry Owens is throwing bullpens, but fastballs only. Rebounding from shoulder surgery, the right-hander isn't expected back until the second half.

Reliever Harvey Garcia, who had shoulder surgery recently, is months away, if he can pitch at all this season.

Official Site

[Juanky]

Geez, that list is long as hell.

I'm really excited for Mitre's return. I think he's going to have a big impact in keeping this run coming, especially going into our weakness and infusing it right away with an increase in talent.

[!NICK!]

So easy to forget about Owens.

[Juanky]

I'm really down on Owens. I REALLY hope I'm wrong because he was a very talented reliever, but I'm worried about a converted pitcher coming off of a shoulder injury.

[Nny]

He also didn't have very good peripherals last year...given his K rate in the minors I really though he'd strike out a lot more than only 6 per 9. But then again small sample size, 23 IP, so shrug.

Well, I say "not very good" but I mean "not very good in the sense he could keep sub 2 ERA." Still good. Although I don't know if he could keep that h/9 if he keeps that low of a k/9.

[Sashimi]

Originally Posted by Nny He also didn't have very good peripherals last year...given his K rate in the minors I really though he'd strike out a lot more than only 6 per 9. But then again small sample size, 23 IP, so shrug. Well, I say "not very good" but I mean "not very good in the sense he could keep sub 2 ERA." Still good. Although I don't know if he could keep that h/9 if he keeps that low of a k/9.

Yeah, I wouldn't read too much into the lower than expected K/9. Not only is it a small sample size (and his first extended stint in the bigs), but that small sample very likely also includes a number of innings in which he was not pitching at full strength. For instance, he had that initial injury (his back, I believe) and tried to come back from that before he developed the arm problem which shelved him for the rest of the season. During that brief stint, it was clear he wasn't right (at the time, I thought it might just be rust).

Obviously, whether he will ever be able to return to full strength will be a big question. I certainly hope he can. Even if Owens doesn't pitch another effective inning for the Fish, that deal still worked out well for us

[!NICK!]

Yeah if I remember correctly he gave up most of his runs in his last couple of outings, where it was clear that he was injured.