05/01/2008 11:11 AM ET
Mulder lackluster in Triple-A rehab start
Left-hander insists he's feeling fine, left pitches up in the zone
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
Left-hander Mark Mulder allowed nine runs, seven earned, over 3 2/3 innings for the Cardinals' Memphis affiliate on Wednesday. (Josh Millstein)
ST. LOUIS -- In Mark Mulder's first Triple-A rehabilitation start, he didn't take a step backward. So that's something. But neither did Mulder take a step forward, and that's a bit concerning.
Mulder, making his fourth Minor League start in his attempt to come back from September shoulder surgery, was roughed up on Wednesday. He permitted nine runs, seven earned, in 3 2/3 innings for the Cardinals' Memphis affiliate. Mulder was reached for three home runs among the nine hits against him; he struck out one and walked one.
After an extremely encouraging start at Double-A Springfield five days earlier, the results were disheartening. But Mulder emphasized that he felt fine, and said that his delivery and release point were as good as in his previous outing.
"I kind of felt like things didn't get worse," Mulder said. "My arm didn't drop. My delivery didn't change. That stayed the same the entire game. I was happy with that.
"It's just that my location was terrible. I can work on location. If I would have gotten out of whack or if I'd gotten messed up during the game, then I would have gotten frustrated with it."
Still, it's no longer a foregone conclusion that Mulder will be added to the Cardinals' Major League starting rotation when his 30-day rehabilitation period ends.
He began his rehab on April 15 with a start at Class A Palm Beach. So he can go again on May 5 and May 10, but after that, he can't make any more rehab starts.
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