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DUNEDIN — Dustin McGowan continues to progress in his attempt to come back from multiple shoulder surgeries and could appear in a minor-league game within a couple of weeks.
“Dustin is responding favourably to all his bullpen sessions,” said manager John Farrell. “The most important thing is that his recovery time from each outing remains consistent. If he were to need an extra day off, it might mean he had gotten after it a little too hard.
“We would look to get him into a minor-league game first and depending on those opportunities, we would evaluate it then. The first minor-league game is on March 14, so it would be some time after that.”
Minor-league pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report Sunday, with position players to follow later in the week. Once the camp opens, it is expected cuts will follow soon at the big league camp.
“We’re looking at 34 pitchers here in camp and we’ll have to make some decisions pretty soon,” said Farrell.
Meanwhile, outfielder Travis Snider has all but fully recovered from an irritated ribcage muscle and could see game action this weekend.
“We’re still hopeful that Snider will be back in the lineup, more than likely in left field rather than as a DH on Saturday,” said Farrell.
Bench candidate Scott Podsednik, suffering from plantar fasciitis in his right foot, ran the bases yesterday. And is in line for some game action late next week.
