Among the most notable Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers who have yet to appear in a Cactus League game this spring include Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly.
Graterol is believed to be ahead of Kelly, but has to clear one major hurdle before pitching in a game. “He’s still got to go through some live hitters,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained. “Until we check that box then we won’t see him in a game.”
Unspecified circumstances prevented Graterol from throwing during the offseason and thus he reported to camp behind other pitchers in that progression.
“There were just some things that I don’t think are right for me to speak to. Some physical things, nothing orthopedically that set him back a little bit,” Roberts said.
“He got married, there were some other things that just didn’t allow for him to get his proper buildup and preparation for Spring Training.”
With Opening Day just over two weeks away, Graterol won’t have many opportunities to pitch in a Cactus League game. Even so, Roberts would not close the door on him being ready for the start of the regular season.
“I wouldn’t say the door is closed. I think for us, the main thing is there were a lot of things that took place this winter for Brusdar that didn’t allow for him to prepare like he normally would’ve as far as throwing bullpens to prepare for Spring Training.
“So the last thing we want to do is speed him up when he’s not ready. His throwing progression, he’s progressing very well. But I do think as a one-inning guy or one-plus, there’s still an opportunity. The main thing is we want him to be healthy and progress the right way.”
Kelly recently threw bullpen session
Kelly recently threw off the mound and is expected to expand on that in the coming days. “He threw off the mound [Monday], about 25 pitches, and came out of it feeling good,” Roberts said.
“So he’ll go again on Thursday. I assume it’ll be a more extended bullpen with some breaking balls mixed in and hopefully after that, the next progression would be facing hitters.”
Kelly has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game due to soreness and potentially some form of injury since playing catch during the first workout for pitchers and catchers.
Despite this, Roberts is not ready to rule him out of making the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster as well. “I don’t want to say that he won’t be ready for the start of the season,” Roberts recently said.
“I don’t want to say that he will. Right now it’s kind of day-to-day with his throwing program. We still have to see him in Major League games before we can give the green light.
“I think that’s what Joe would expect as well. That’s why I just think right now, where his throwing program is at, when he gets into a game, things have been pushed back. But I just don’t want to put any restrictions or expectations as far as breaking camp with us.”
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