Freeland (neck stiffness) 'feels good,' hopes to make his next start
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DENVER – Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland believes he is shaking off an injury more associated with football and may not miss time playing baseball.
Freeland left his last start, at home against the Dodgers on Tuesday night, after 3 2/3 innings with what’s known as a “stinger” – a pinched nerve in the neck that sent a “jolt” down his pitching arm. Two of Freeland’s previous three starts were stellar – his first career complete game, and another eight-inning effort.
But Freeland has thrown the last two days, and played long-toss on Saturday. He is tentatively scheduled to start Tuesday at Washington, although that could be delayed a day or so to give him more healing time. Much will depend on how he feels after a bullpen session on Sunday.
“It feels good – I threw some long-toss, kind of a higher volume today, and I let some stuff eat,” Freeland said. “We’re going to test it in the bullpen tomorrow and go from there.”
Stingers happen more in football, when contact to the neck and shoulder area can pinch nerves along the spinal column. For treatment, Freeland is undergoing chiropractic care, acupuncture and dry-needle treatments.
Also, veteran lefty Jose Quintana, who has not pitched since May 24 because of a left elbow sprain and subsequent PRP treatments, faced batters at Coors Field on Saturday – his first such session since the injury. The plan is for Quintana’s next outing to be at the team’s complex in Scottsdale, possibly in the Arizona Bridge League against players who are not assigned to Minor League teams.
Quintana, who has been throwing bullpen sessions, threw 25 pitches against Jordan Beck and Braxton Fulford. He mixed pitches and felt good with his fastball, sinker, changeup and curve, but didn’t feel as good with the slider. Beck deposited one of the curveballs into the left-field bleachers for a home run, but Quintana used it as information.
“I see that Beck is good at hitting the curveball,” Quintana said. “So, I decided, ‘Let me show you another one,’ and I threw a better one.”