Saturday, March 11, 2006
Reds’ Wilson sick and tired of being injured
Jim Massie / THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
SARASOTA, Fla. — Paul Wilson needed only a moment yesterday to decide that patience never has been one of his particular virtues.
Eight and a half months removed from shoulder surgery that cost him most of the 2005 season with the Cincinnati Reds, Wilson has yet to pitch in an exhibition game this spring and can sense the clock ticking toward opening day.
He knows that setbacks are part of any rehabilitation. Wilson has traveled the same road before after surgeries to his shoulder in 1996 and right elbow in ’99. Yet one part hasn’t changed. He didn’t like the view from the sidelines then. He likes it less now.
"I thought it would be different," Wilson said. "It’s not. It’s actually harder because I want to hurry up and be part of what these guys are going to start doing in a little while. I want to help out. You’d think I would have more patience because I’m older now. I don’t. The impatience is the same. In that regard, I haven’t matured at all."
Beneath a wry smile, his face showed the frustration of a man stuck in a traffic jam two hours away from where he needs to be in 15 minutes. Blowing the horn won’t speed the pace.
"I feel fine," Wilson said. "It’s coming. It’s not going as fast as I’d like it, but it’s coming. I’m on a five-day schedule — pitch, day off, side day, day off, day off, pitch. The last month has been up and down. We’ve had a bad week. Then we’ve had a decent week. We’re waiting on my strength to get better."
The wait is complicated by the state of the Cincinnati starting rotation. Aaron Harang missed his scheduled start Thursday with inflammation in the right shoulder, and Eric Milton continues to try to quiet down a sore right calf.
Reds manager Jerry Narron has said he won’t begin to worry until after March 15, but contingency plans already are chugging along. Tommy Phelps, Ben Kozlowski, Justin Germano, Michael Gosling and Phil Dumatrait are among the pitchers getting looks as potential fill-ins for Wilson or the others.
"That’s a lot of starters," Narron said. "Until (Wilson) is back, you move on and try to get somebody to step up and fill that role. It’s a great opportunity for these guys to get a chance to pitch this spring. It doesn’t happen very often where you’ve got guys that you don’t plan on starting spring training games starting for you."
Wilson knows what has to improve before his name returns to the mix.
"My body is in great shape," he said. "I’m ready to go. I’m just waiting on my arm strength. You build it just by throwing. We’re doing our Jobe weights. We’re doing our specific muscle weights and every other weight known to man. But mostly we’re just throwing."
To that regimen, Wilson followed a long bullpen session yesterday by pitching two innings of live batting practice for teammates Dewayne Wise, Jacob Cruz and Andy Abad.
"This was a good day," Wilson said. "After the roller coaster ride I’ve been on, I’ll take all the good days I can get."
He hasn’t given up on being ready by April even if the prospects are slim. Patience, easy or not, is the only available road.
"I will know when my arm is strong enough by how the hitters are reacting to the ball," Wilson said. "It’s not going to be 95 mph. But I have to be able to compete. I may be 70 percent right now. I don’t know. I can’t put a number on it. But I’ll know when I’m competitive."
jmassie@dispatch.com
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/reds...311-E9-02.html
Originally Posted by flyer85
I don't think flyer85 really meant to insinuate that Paul Wilson had some sort of character flaw, but that's how it came across.
