PHOENIX -- D-backs left-hander Robbie Ray said he is feeling no lingering effects from the concussion that he sustained when he was struck on the head by a line drive on July 28.
Ray threw a simulated game at Salt River Fields on Saturday, facing batters for the first time since he was struck.
"It went really well," Ray said. "I felt good, arm felt great, body felt great ... head felt great. We'll just see where it goes from there."
Ray threw four innings and 50 pitches. He faced D-backs outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who is on the 60-day disabled list, as well as a few Minor Leaguers in the Arizona organization who are rehabbing injuries. He did not pitch with a screen in front of the mound and said he reacted as he normally would to ground balls hit near him.
"We had no issues with that," Ray said. "Had a couple ground balls close to me, hit to second base or shortstop, and had no issues at all. ... It didn't even cross my mind really. It was just, 'Go out there and throw the ball and pitch how you know how to.' It was just another day on the mound."
The simulated game came after Ray had thrown a 33-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday. He and D-backs manager Torey Lovullo haven't established the next step in his rehab. They are waiting to see how Ray feels on Sunday before planning out the next time he will throw.
"As these things kind of materialize and you're just kind of walking in unfamiliar territory, you just have to kind of take it day by day and piece by piece," Lovullo said. "Unfortunately, I can't say what the next step is; we want to see how his arm feels tomorrow. He was aggressive -- he was very aggressive with all of his pitches, in typical Robbie fashion, so we've got to see how the arm feels tomorrow when he walks in here and then come up with a game plan."
Tomas making strides
Tomas took another step in his recovery from a groin injury by facing Ray in the simulated game.
He was placed on the disabled list June 6 with right groin tendinitis.
Tomas had several at-bats against Ray and also ran the bases, which has been the main roadblock in his rehab process.
"[Tomas] is continuing to press on," Lovullo said. "He ran the bases aggressively after he hit, which was nice, and he continues to do all sorts of baseball activity. We want to get him in a game as soon as possible, so I think it's trending toward that. ... There's not a calendar yet. We still want to see how he feels after the game."