Wright rehab

[southsider2k5]

In his first outing since sustaining a bout of elbow inflammation that landed him on the disabled list March 27, Danny Wright pitched three innings Thursday night for Triple-A Charlotte and began setting the stage for a potentially difficult decision for the White Sox.

 

Wright struck out five, walked one and did not give up a hit while throwing his allotted 60 pitches (33 in the game, 27 in the bullpen) in the first step of a rehab process that could last a month but ultimately projects to send a current starter to the minors. Wright's 14 victories last season were second only to Mark Buehrle's 19, and manager Jerry Manuel has made it clear that when Wright is healthy, he'll go back into the rotation.

 

When that happens, the least effective of the current starters won't be relegated to the bullpen but rather will be sent down.

 

"It could be a real tough decision," manager Jerry Manuel said. "That keeps everybody trying to be effective. If somebody happens to slump, it's not a thing where we possibly would wait. We possibly would insert somebody and let that get corrected elsewhere. I don't think we would have to correct it here because we have depth now at that position."

 

The Sox's thinking is that the bullpen currently is set and a strength of the team even if not consistent yet. Management also believes a starter such as young Josh Stewart needs to continue starting and working longer in games.

 

"I see us having enough depth in the bullpen that it would probably be best if he stayed stretched out," Manuel said.

 

Wright's job in the meantime is to work through a process that had him work three innings his first outing, with four on his next and so on until he has had as many as five starts. He will work on a five-day rotation and eventually increase his pitch count to 100 while the team's medical staff evaluates his progress.

 

The Sox were especially pleased that Wright was effective with his curveball and was getting strikeouts with his breaking pitches. Also, his fastball appeared to have movement late and he did not have discomfort afterward or Friday.

 

"Usually when you have an elbow [problem], the stress of a curveball really bothers you," Manuel said. "So for him to be really effective says good things.

 

"When you have those things happening for you, that means a lot of things are going right for you. That's a lot of stress on the elbow, and if the guy can continue to pitch well and do those things, that's very encouraging."