HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Justin Verlander threw from a slope on Wednesday as he continues to progress in his rehab from the calf injury he suffered against the Baltimore Orioles on August 28.
"The calf and everything's been healing and progressing as we could have hoped, if not even a little bit better," Verlander said. "Just very optimistic, but also being cautious, particularly given the time of the year, not trying to overly push things, but I think things have gone about as good as anybody could hope for at this point."
Verlander has been playing catch on flat ground for about the last week and he called throwing from a slope, which is on the mound but in front of the rubber, a "mental barrier".
"There's always a little bit of hesitation, so in a very controlled environment to be able to slowly work through that hesitation, I think, in my experience anyway, tomorrow, I'll be much more confident mentally throwing off the mound than I would have been today."
The Astros bullpen said he'd like to be able to throw a light bullpen from the rubber in the next couple of days, but did not think he'd be ready to be activated from the 15-day injured list when eligible on September 14.
"I''m progressing very quickly, but I do think discretion is the better part of valor. I think that would apply here, just try not to get too far ahead of myself, and don't do anything stupid. I really feel like I dodged the bullet, so I would not be able to forgive myself or look my teammates in the eyes, if I tried to push myself back for potentially one extra start."
