Schilling takes step in catching up
He plays toss from 60 feet
DETROIT - About two hours after throwing for the first time this season - though it was just a game of catch - Curt Schilling could be seen doing a jig. No, not a real one. He was gone from the visitors' clubhouse at
But, at the very least, it seemed that the real Curt Schilling had a good day.
"Any pitcher, their greatest joy is throwing a baseball," said pitching coach John Farrell, who played catch for about six minutes with Schilling as the righthander made 25 throws from 60 feet. "To be able to do that, even at the very early stages - and, really, the crawling stage, for lack of a better term - is a positive step for him. I think it signifies something in his mind, saying, 'OK, I am making progress here.' "
Schilling is scheduled to throw again from 60 feet tomorrow, and will continue at that distance until assistant trainer Mike Reinold gives him permission to advance his rehabilitation to a throwing program. There is no target date for moving on to throwing off a mound or pitching batting practice or pitching in a game.
"It's - I don't want to say a small step - but I mean in the grand progression it is," manager Terry Francona said. "I don't think anybody expected him not to feel OK, or we wouldn't have had him do it. But it's still a good step because he's throwing.
"He doesn't have the luxury of backing off the shoulder program as he throws. If anything, he'll have to keep the intensity going. But I think while he's throwing that will give him something to shoot for."
Schilling said Monday he anticipated that yesterday's throwing session would have a "Christmas Day" feel to it. And, though he didn't comment on it, this was clearly a big moment for him.
Schilling has been working to strengthen his shoulder and stay in shape since he began feeling discomfort in January, and he hopes to rejoin the Sox rotation at some point this season. Yesterday was certainly a small move forward.
"I think today, more than anything, I think it's Curt with the ball in his hand," Farrell said. "[It] begins to illuminate the light at the end of the tunnel for him.
"Granted, there's a lot of steps to go and still a lot of work to be done, but I think he can look at this as certainly a positive step but a step that is significant in the fact that he's done so much work just building the base of strength to allow him to put the ball in his hand."
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.
