ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Borucki hasn't thrown a pitch in a major-league game since early April when he lasted just 1/3 of an inning against the Orioles at PNC Park. On April 7, Borucki was placed on the injured list with left triceps inflammation and was later diagnosed with median nerve neuritis, a condition that occurs when inflammation exists in the median nerve that runs the length of the arm.
Borucki was transferred to the 60-day injured list on June 6, but after two long months, he's continuing to progress toward a potential return to the Pirates' bullpen, as both he and starting pitcher Marco Gonzales threw 20 pitches in bullpen sessions at Busch Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
“It went good. Threw all my pitches and just kind of working through just feeling the mound again," Borucki said following the session. "Just wanted to make sure I was really synced up mechanically. Movement was about the same and everything was, so it was a good first one.”
Throughout his recovery process, Borucki said he experienced a lot of mental ups and downs due to the unknown circumstances surrounding his injury.
“I feel like we have a good base of what I need to do to get ready and how to manage it better, which is good because it’s a nerve issue and I’ve never had that before," Borucki said. "It could be a little tricky, but I feel like we’re in a good place when it comes to just being able to get my arm ready to go to throw and just kind of managing everything. Feel really good about it, but obviously it was a little bit longer than I wanted. Right now, it feels good just to be back on the mound throwing a baseball.”
Prior to landing on the injured list, Borucki struck out six batters and allowed two runs in 3 1/3 innings through four early appearances. Last year, he played a significant role out of the bullpen, compiling a 2.45 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP through 38 appearances. He limited opposing hitters to a .183 batting average in just over 40 innings.
Gonzales, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Braves, was effective before being shelved with a left forearm muscle strain on April 14. He registered two quality starts and posted a 2.45 ERA and 1.18 WHIP through three starts.
"Anytime we can start to get guys, pitchers that are on the IL off the mound, off the slope, working down, those are big days for us," Derek Shelton, who hadn't yet met with either Borucki or Gonzales prior to speaking with reporters Wednesday. "And, I think as we've always talked about, tomorrow will be big for us to see how they recover."
Borucki said the plan is for him to throw two more bullpen sessions Saturday and Tuesday. Live batting practice could be the next step based on how he feels after the bullpens. All in all, he wants to take things slow, steady and safe, even if he is chomping at the bit to get back as soon as possible.
“I’m not a very patient person, so I think I was driving the training staff crazy every day just because I’m very impatient, but with this nerve thing, time is the best thing when it comes to it. It’s not a muscle or anything like that, so it can be tricky," Borucki said. "It was tough, but I had a good support staff. My wife kept me sane, which was good, and all my teammates. Being around the team and being around here really helped me because it would be different if I was alone every day in Florida and stuff. Mentally it would be tough, so it really helped me being able to go to games, sit in the bullpen and things like that. Really kept me sane and got me through this time.”
