St. Louis Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter gets a stimulated game – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher Chris Carpenter made headway on Tuesday, September 4, towards his return on the mound with 50 pitches that he tossed during three simulated innings. This comes as encouraging news for the Cardinals given the experience and power Carpenter brings as starter.
He has not been able to pitch the whole season, necessitating thoracic outlet surgery in July. While he has to recover fully from that surgery, the simulated game that he had on Tuesday is a step in the right direction and good news for the Redbirds as a whole.
"As long as I continue to progress and feel good, I want to be able to pitch," said Carpenter, who has not been able to pitch this season. "I also need to make sure I'm good enough to help this ballclub. We've got some quality guys. I've got to get my stuff right, get my command right, get my pitch limit up to where I can give us a positive effort."
The pitches that he had were good enough as far as the catcher Bryan Anderson was concerned. He made a reference about it while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
"He doesn't look like he's hurting at all," said Bryan Anderson, who caught Carpenter. "He looked good. He looked just like it was old Carp."
Those who faced him to help have the simulated at-bats were Adron Chambers, Pete Kozma and Ryan Jackson – facing different number of pitches.
From Kozma to other hitters, the pitches that Carpenter had were sharp. With this progress, there are reports that Carpenter will have a bullpen session on Friday and then Monday. Following that, he will have another simulated game on September 15 wherein he will have up to 80 simulated pitches.
If all goes according to the plan and if the Cardinals make it to the playoffs, Carpenter may well be there in the line-up, repeating what he did the past season as he destroyed some of the league's best teams' offensive play. The Redbirds, therefore, keep their fingers crossed for that prospect as Carpenter moves carefully, but eagerly to that direction.
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