DENVER -- Rockies right-hander Justin Miller has been resting a strained left oblique since he was placed on the DL on July 5. However, his All-Star break was not as low key as it was for most players, as Miller got married.
Miller married his girlfriend of three and a half years, Pilar, at Denver Botanic Gardens in Littleton, Colo.
"I proposed to her at the start of the season," Miller said. "We came here, and we went back to Arizona, that's where I proposed. She's from Arizona and we live out there, and the house is out there. We were going to do a big wedding in the offseason, but it was just getting too stressful, so we decided on an elopement and have a real small wedding and planned for it during the All-Star break, because that's when I had the most time off."
Miller, who said he finally felt fully healthy following the All-Star break, threw long toss from 120 feet Thursday and felt good enough to throw a bullpen session of exclusively fastballs at 50 to 75 percent on Friday.
"I'll throw another [session] in a couple days, and that one will wrap it up," Miller said. "[I'm] trying to get to 100 percent and snap some [sliders] off. Right now, I feel pretty good. I'm just trying to take it easy."
Oblique injuries can take particularly long to heal, as they can be re-aggravated when a pitcher pulls too hard down on a pitch, particularly breaking balls. Miller is working out again after taking time off, but he's been taking it lightly. Whereas he normally dead lifts over 300 pounds, he is only lifting 135 pounds.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said there is no timetable for when Miller will begin a potential rehab assignment.
Worth noting
Outfielder Gerardo Parra continues his rehab from a June 14 left ankle sprain, although there's still no timetable for his return. Parra had a hiccup in the rehab in Atlanta last weekend, which slowed his otherwise smooth progress.
"His ankle was just a little stiff the second day, so we backed off it," Weiss said. "It's just his body telling him that he probably needs to slow down a bit. He's still doing well. That was really the first time he's had to deal with any adversity through this whole process. It won't keep him down long, he'll be right back at it."
Parra has been running the bases and in the outfield, but the next step for him is doing more baseball-related activities, such as taking fly balls in the outfield, cutting off balls in the gap, and throwing to bases.