Cordero Has a Catch

Chad Cordero took his first steps towards returning to the Nats bullpen as he played catch for the first time since going on the dl:



Throwing a baseball for the first time since he tore the latissimus dorsi - a triangular flat muscle in the lumbar region - Cordero said he was a little nervous about what might happen. But he felt no pain in his shoulder throwing from 45 to 60 feet.
"I didn't have any soreness or anything like that," Cordero said. "Once I got used to throwing again, I could do everything. Not throwing for four weeks, I was kind of anxious to see what would happen, but it went well."
Cordero will throw every other day for the next two weeks, increasing the distance by 15 feet each time. He can then resume throwing from a mound, but his return is still a ways off. However minor the progress was yesterday, it was at least a move forward. -Ben Goessling, Washington Times



With the struggles of some of the previously reliable relievers this season, Cordero's return could relieve a huge burden on their oft-used shoulders.