OAKLAND -- A day after throwing 60 pitches in a four-inning simulated game, righty Rich Harden was smiling.
Expected to come off the disabled list Thursday to make his first start since suffering a strained elbow ligament in early June, he reported nothing out of the ordinary in the wake of the most strenuous test of his lengthy rehabilitation.
"Four innings for me right now is like seven or eight as far as my body is concerned, and usually there's a lot of muscle soreness the day after you throw that much," he said before the finale of a three-game series against the visiting White Sox on Sunday. "But I actually feel a little better today than I normally would the day after throwing. There's a little bit of soreness, but it's not in the elbow. It's the kind you're used to after you pitch, in the big muscles, and there's not that much of it.
"Somehow I actually feel looser than I usually do, so that's a great sign."
Said head athletic trainer Larry Davis: "He's sore in all the right places."
In discussing his velocity Saturday, when his fastball -- normally in the mid- to upper-90s -- was consistently clocked at 90-92 mph in his final inning of work, Harden sounded confident that the adrenaline of a live-game situation will easily make up the difference.
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Rich Harden is likely to be limited to 75-80 pitches in his return to the rotation. (John Froschauer/AP)
Notes: Harden has no ill effects
Notes: Harden has no ill effects
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