Broxton on track for return; Marshall delayed

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Reds manager Bryan Price said on Sunday that he's happy with the progress of one of his relievers, right-hander Jonathan Broxton, but much more guarded about left-hander Sean Marshall.

Broxton had surgery to repair a torn flexor mass in his right forearm in August and hasn't pitched yet during Spring Training. Marshall suffered a recurrence of the left shoulder tendinitis that caused him to be placed on the disabled list twice last season.

"Broxton has a throwing schedule that leads him into live batting practice, and I don't know the exact date for that," Price said. "He hasn't had any setbacks. He's been terrific every time he's thrown, not just in his bullpens, but in his long toss. We should know realistically as we get into the last 10 days of spring whether he'll be on time to start the season.

"I don't anticipate there being any issues with his elbow. He looks strong. His delivery is good. He's throwing his breaking ball now so the next step will be live batting practice before getting him into games."

Marshall, though, has been slowed down.

"He had some real challenges with the shoulder last year," Price said. "Every time we seemed to get close, we took a step back. So we didn't want to go down that road again. He checked out well with Dr. [Tim] Kremchek. He's done a lot of offseason work, but he just didn't get out of the gates the way we hoped. Instead of pushing him through it, force him through it, we decided to take a step back.

"He's been playing catch, but he hasn't gotten back on the mound yet. We're hoping that's going to come soon. And if it does, and there are no setbacks from that point, it's still realistic to see him on the Opening Day roster. But if we're talking about it being a week from now, that might be more of a challenge."