CHICAGO – Four hours before the Cincinnati Reds played the Chicago Cubs in their series opener at Wrigley Field on Monday, Michael Lorenzen was running through a series of stretches in front of the dugout.
Lorenzen feared the worst when he injured his hamstring in his season debut on July 17, coming up lame when he scored on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning in an extra-innings loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Now, it’s possible he could return within a week or two.
Lorenzen threw off a mound Saturday at Great American Ball Park and did 30-yard sprints. His next step is throwing off a mound with higher intensity.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work,” Lorenzen said. “Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good. I thought for sure that I was done for the year as I was walking off the field. I’m pretty ecstatic about where I’m at right now.”
Series Wrap: As the trade deadline looms, are the Reds too far back in the playoff race?
Lorenzen says his rehab feels like a full-time job some days, so busy in the training room that he doesn’t have time to sit in the dugout. He wears a compression sleeve over his right leg all day. He’s been trying everything from red light therapy, collagen bone broth and he’s hydrating as much as possible.
“I’m really proud of how my body held up,” Lorenzen said. “I saw the video. I know what I felt. For my quad to take over from when I hyperextended my knee and my hip and to have nothing from that at all is incredible. I’m just thankful. It literally feels like a miracle for me to be where I’m at right now.”
More: Why Sonny Gray stayed on the mound during a pitching change in Reds loss to Cardinals
Lorenzen is one of the best athletes in the sport and he had a chance to showcase everything in his season debut. He pitched a scoreless inning. He played two innings in the outfield. He scored the game-tying run. If it wasn't for the injury and the loss, he said it would have been "the best night ever."
People have asked him if he’s bothered by his injury-plagued year knowing how he stays in great shape.
“I’m like, ‘if I didn’t take as good of care of myself, I wouldn’t be walking right now. I wouldn’t,’” Lorenzen said. “The way everything else fired and helped out when my hammy went down, it was like everything else did its job at an elite level and I was able to stabilize myself. That’s why I’m able to come back so soon. I’m pretty happy about it.
“(Reds medical director Dr. Timothy) Kremchek, he was like, ‘watching that video, I thought I was going to be operating on seven different things on you.’”
Lorenzen didn’t want to put a specific timetable on how soon he could return, but if everything goes well when he throws with higher intensity, it could be a much shorter stint on the IL than anyone expected.
“Talking to Kremchek and discussing what the MRI meant, it’s like, ‘all right, let’s roll. Let’s get this going.’” Lorenzen said. “I’m hoping that all the work that I’ve put in gets rewarded really soon.”
MAKING PROGRESS: Nick Castellanos could begin some light baseball activities Tuesday at Wrigley Field like playing catch.
He popped into manager David Bell's office before Monday's game to tell him that he was feeling better.
"I also heard from (trainer) Steve Baumann that he's having a good day, kind of pushing to do more things," Bell said. "There's a possibility that, maybe, (Tuesday) he could start doing some throwing or something not to test it out, but it could be at that point where it'll be ready to start adding in some activities. Great progress over the weekend."
HIGH HEAT: St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt was ejected in the middle of the third inning Sunday after home-plate umpire Chad Fairchild denied a replay review because Shildt took too long to signal that he wanted to challenge a close play at first base.
Shildt took exception with the denied challenge, but that wasn’t the only call that he disagreed with in the three-game series against the Reds.
“This has been a series that didn’t taste really great from our perspective,” Shildt said Sunday. “We had four (calls) all go against us that we had to challenge, and it got overturned. Friday night, we lost track of the count. There was a walk that we had to figure out and get reverse. We had a strike zone on Friday night that I think went viral, at least among the St. Louis baseball community, with almost over a run-and-a-half favor against us.
“At some point, you have to stand up for your guys. I don’t want this to be a recurring theme. At a certain point, we can be patient, but we have competition here that is sincere. The whole series, it was like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’”
Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera was ejected in the eighth inning when he was walking off the mound after he walked Jesse Winker in an eight-pitch at-bat and was replaced by another reliever. The eighth pitch was in the strike zone, according to pitch-tracking data.
“We’re not going to sit there and wear it,” Shildt said. “We play the game. We show up to compete. That’s how we play the game. But we are not going to sit here after a whole series of it and accept it and ignore it.”
ROSTER MOVE: Lefty reliever Amir Garrett was activated from the three-day paternity list before Monday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs. He and his wife, Tausana, welcomed a baby girl named Koa Mae.
Infielder Alejo Lopez was optioned to Triple-A Louisville to make room for Garrett on the 26-man active roster.
Source link
