Sidelined St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter recently began throwing into a net from a short distance as part of his rehabilitation program for a right shoulder injury, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
And Carpenter soon will progress to throwing to a glove from flat ground, the newspaper says. The team believes these are significant steps in Carpenter's progress that point to a late July or early August return.
Chris Carpenter hasn't thrown off a mound since mid-March. (AP Photo)
"It's not anything that's strict or completely mapped out. It's not as if I'm going to throw two sets of 20 from 60 feet. That's not it. It's about how it feels today," Carpenter said. "... If I play catch one day and it feels good the next I'm going to continue to condition my arm and get ready to throw off an arm like I normally would before spring."
Carpenter was shut down in spring training because of a nerve issue that resulted in neck pain and shoulder weakness. He hasn’t thrown off a mound since mid-March.
"I'll be excited when I get back on the mound out there. At this point in time, I thought I was already past that," Carpenter said. "Right now, it's hard to know what to expect. I'll say it's exciting to the extent that it's moving in the right direction."
Carpenter, 37, went 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA in 34 starts during the 2011 regular season and was 4-0 with a 3.25 ERA in six postseason starts. The combined 273 1/3 innings were a career high.
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