St. Louis Cardinals' Jake Westbrook throws another bullpen session – MLB News
St. Louis Cardinals' starter Jake Westbrook commented on Wednesday, September 19, that he is looking forward to returning to the mound soon, hours after he threw 40 to 45 pitches in a bullpen session. Westbrook will have his second session on Friday which will determine if he has regained his fitness to get his named slated for rotation.
Ever since getting his right oblique strained, on September 8, Westbrook has not been able to make a start. But Wednesday’s bullpen session – which will follow that of Friday, augurs well for the starter, paving the way for his early return.
Throwing 40 to 45 pitches was something that Westbrook not only enjoyed, but also put in the right use to expedite the process of becoming a part of the line-up again.
"It was great," said Westbrook, the pitcher who is anticipating an early return now after encouraging and satisfactory bullpen session on Wednesday. "It felt better than I thought it was going to. The two days of playing catch [earlier this week] helped. I felt really good. I didn't feel anything with my side. That's encouraging."
The Cardinals, a club that is looking to secure their position in the Wild Card, are in need of a stronger rotation coupled with bullpen at this point in time. As the playoffs near, the competition for the postseason has visibly increased.
While injuries are something that the players vulnerable to along with fatigue and other set of problems, the Cardinals have some of their best starters not in the line-up due to respective problems.
Chris Carpenter could not make any start this season due to thoracic outlet surgery. But he is scheduled to make his first start on Friday against the Chicago Cubs to give an idea whether or not he is completely fit to play in the rest of the season.
On the other hand, if everything goes well with Carpenter, Westbrook’s return, undeniably, will be of huge significance for the St. Louis Cardinals. It will then be interesting to see how emboldened the rotation becomes after the arrival of these experienced and accomplished pitchers.
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