Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeff Niemann played catch this morning, testing his right shoulder for the first time since being struck there with a line drive during Thursday's start against the Baltimore Orioles.
"I feel a lot better today," Niemann said before this afternoon's game against the New York Yankees. "Today was the best; a marked improvement over how I felt the past two days. It was good to move around, get the blood flowing. It's still sore. It's not 100 percent, but it felt good, very good."
Niemann was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today in preparation for his next start, which is Tuesday against the Orioles in Baltimore.
But those plans changed when he was knocked down by a laser off the bat of Orioles third baseman Miguel Tejada. Niemann left the game as a precaution, and both he and Rays manager Joe Maddon said they didn't expect the injury to be serious.
The bullpen session will take place before Sunday's homestand finale against the Yankees.
"I just want to throw off the mound and make sure we're good to go off that," Niemann said. "I'll turn up the intensity a little bit for a few pitches."
Maddon said he will determine whether Niemann can make Tuesday's start based on how he throws Sunday.
If not, Andy Sonnanstine, who replaced Niemann on Thursday, will have a bullpen session Sunday and replace Niemann on Tuesday.
Based on how he felt this morning, Niemann was confident he would be able to make Tuesday's start.
"If I keep making progress like this then we should be just fine for the next start," he said.
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