Wednesday, March 24, 1999
Neagle making progress
Stay on DL may decrease to three starts
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Denny Neagle's four-inning stint Tuesday didn't convince anyone he shouldn't begin the season on the disabled list.
But it may have shortened his stay once he gets there.
Neagle inched toward regaining his regular-season form with his 58-pitch effort in a “B” game against the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium. The left-hander estimated that he threw at about 85 percent of his full force and that he occasionally allowed himself to throw his fastball without restraint. It was a noticeable improvement over his three-inning, 45-pitch performance in a minor-league exhibition Thursday.
“He's obviously not ready yet. He has a ways to go,” Reds General Manager Jim Bowden said. “But he's certainly making great progress. It's a good sign, because he wouldn't be able to (pitch) as he did if there was something wrong with him.”
Though Neagle allowed just three hits, including Terry Steinbach's fourth-inning homer, he barely resembled the left-hander who won 52 games in the last three seasons.
He threw first-pitch balls to eight of the 16 batters he faced and yelled in disgust three times after releasing pitches he didn't like. Scouts with radar guns said only one of his fastballs reached 85 mph, about 2-3 mph below his normal velocity. But he also threw 32 strikes while issuing one walk.
Neagle might not pitch in a regularly scheduled exhibition game before the Reds leave Florida. His next outing is likely to come Sunday in a minor-league exhibition or a simulated game. Pitching coach Don Gullett said he hoped Neagle could last five innings and throw 65 to 75 pitches.
Then Neagle would pitch April 2, the date of Cincinnati's Grapefruit League finale, if he maintained his current pace. But the Reds might need those innings to give their healthy pitchers one last tuneup.
Still, if Neagle continues to progress, Bowden said the pitcher could leave the disabled list — once he's officially on it — as early as April 10, the first Saturday of the regular season. Neagle probably would need another week or so to build up his arm strength and durability, perhaps by pitching in Florida's warmer weather.
“To me, that's not the worst-case scenario,” Neagle said when asked about opening the season on the disabled list. “I think that might be the best thing for me, rather than push it and say I can start the fifth or sixth game of the year. Why even think about rushing that?
“Nobody's panicking around here. So I miss maybe three full turns around the rotation, if that. It's better than pushing it to the point where it sets me back another month and I miss six, seven or eight starts.”
Neagle has devoted spring training to exercising the muscles in the back of his left shoulder, which were found to be alarmingly weak when Reds pitchers underwent physical examinations at the beginning of camp. Neagle reiterated his gratitude toward the Reds' medical and conditioning staffs for helping him get stronger.
“It's probably a blessing in disguise coming over here,” said Neagle, who joined the Reds in the five-player trade that sent second baseman Bret Boone to Atlanta in November. “Had I stayed with Atlanta or gone to another team that didn't have this regimented (fitness) program, who knows? Maybe I would have blown out (my arm) or something. You can only go so long. It's kind of like seeing how long you can push that "E' in your gas tank.”
Neagle said his tank isn't quite full.
“I feel it's (arm strength) almost all the way back, but it's just a hair short still, and that's why my control was off,” he said. “I can feel myself on every other fastball kind of guiding it a little bit. Even though I still feel I'm getting good life, I don't have that full (arm) extension. With all those exercises and everything, I know my control will come with it.”
Neagle said he felt like himself when he jammed Brent Gates on a full-count fastball, causing the Twins second baseman to ground out in the fourth inning. Neagle also took heart from the fact that he faced some established major-leaguers; in his last outing, he faced anonymous Single-A players.
“It gives you a little better gauge, obviously,” he said.
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