Not even a day into pitchers and catchers Spring Training workouts and already the Pirates have a man injured. Gerrit Cole reported to camp with rib inflammation and is following a modified throwing program at least through next week, he told reporters today in Bradenton.
#pirates Gerrit Cole talks about rib inflammation: pic.twitter.com/mo1bjXsILL
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) February 19, 2016
The inflammation, reported by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review sportswriter Rob Biertempfel, started in mid-January and is forcing the right-hander to, in his words, “take a step back” to ensure he’s ready to go when the regular season starts.
The news was revealed by Pirates Head Athletic Trainer Todd Tomczyk at a press gaggle early this afternoon, as tweeted by DK Pittsburgh Sports writer Matt Gajtka. While Tomczyk said that the injury occurred in training in mid-January, he didn’t reveal the exact nature of the injury.
I asked if Cole's injury (suffered during Jan. training) was to his connective rib tissue. Was told Pirates are treating it as inflammation
— Matt Gajtka (GITE-kah) (@MattGajtka) February 19, 2016
“It was just something that just kept nagging and we needed to kind of address it so that we could get both feet on the ground when we got out here and move in the right direction,” Cole told reporters.
Cole’s still shaking out the cobwebs and beginning to throw, but unlike the rest of the pitching staff, he’s working off of flat ground for now in an effort to address the inflammation and heal up. He hopes to be throwing off the mound next week.
NOTE: The Pirates made Tomczyk available to the media for questions, which is the first time the organization has done so. The Pirates plan to continue doing this throughout spring training.
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