White Sox throw changeup in John Danks’ rehab program
BY DARYL VAN SCHOUWEN dvanschouwen@suntimes.com July 27, 2012 11:30PM
Gordon Beckham awaits the throw as Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers steals second base in the first inning on Friday night. | LM Otero~AP
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Updated: August 29, 2012 12:29PM
ARLINGTON, Texas — In what looks like a last-ditch effort to get him back on the force, the White Sox are speeding up John Danks’ work plan by skipping long-toss work to strengthen his ailing shoulder and having him strictly throw off the mound.
“It would be ideal if we had more time to build up arm strength, but we don’t have that time,’’ said Danks, who signed a five-year, $65 million contract this past offseason. “I’m on board. Kind of willing to do anything at this point to get back, and this is what we’ve come up with.‘’
The Danks plan was in place before the Sox lost to the Angels in the trade-deadline sweepstakes for 2009 Cy Young winner Zack Greinke. General manager Ken Williams’ desire to add a starter before the deadline is only heightened by the increasingly unlikely return of Danks.
Danks threw 30 pitches off a mound on Day 1 of the new plan that aims to get him back by
Sept. 1. He was disappointed he didn’t feel stronger but was assured by team doctors and trainers that he can’t make the shoulder worse by pushing it.
“We’re going to carry this out the rest of the trip [which ends Wednesday in Minnesota] and see where this takes us,’’ pitching coach Don Cooper said.
Cooper and manager Robin Ventura said it’s possible Danks won’t pitch until 2013.
“It’s going to have to happen pretty fast for him to go down and have a rehab assignment and feel strong enough where he can come in here and pitch,’’ Ventura said. “So it’s getting closer and closer to that time, and if not, you kind of look toward next year.’’
A.J. eyes Sunday
Tyler Flowers started his third consecutive game as catcher A.J. Pierzynski sat out again with a right oblique strain.
With left-hander Matt Harrison starting Saturday, Pierzynski likely will take another day off.
“It’s just a case of not pushing it,’’ Ventura said.
“He could play, but with two months left, we don’t want to lose him for two weeks.’’
Pierzynski hit in the cage Friday and said it was “100 times better.’’ He said he can catch and throw and went through a full workout.
Dunn: Winning cures all
Adam Dunn feels physically strong heading into the dog days of August, and he attributes much of that to being on a winning team. He has played most of his career on losing teams.
“Getting your butt kicked takes its toll on you, believe it or not,’’ Dunn said. “That’s the hardest part — believe me, I’ve had it happen a lot. It takes so much out of you mentally; it drains you, as opposed to winning. My body doesn’t feel that tired. After two weeks of losing, stuff starts to cramp up. It’s hard to explain, but it happens.’’
Notes
The Rangers pushed scheduled starter Roy Oswalt back a day in their rotation and named Scott Feldman to start in the series finale Sunday night.
◆ Alejandro De Aza, fighting upper-respiratory issues the last few days, said he spent the day off in bed Thursday.
