Shields set for action after throwing session
Royals ace reports bruised elbow is fine, will face White Sox on Friday
SEATTLE -- Royals right-hander James Shields tested the bruised elbow on his pitching arm in a bullpen session on Tuesday and reported that he's ready to start as scheduled on Friday night at Chicago.
"Pencil me in," he said after tossing 26 pitches. "I threw about 94 [mph] in the biullpen so I'm good to go."
A minute later, he had a facetious amendment to his report: "No, I threw 102, trying to keep up with 'Ace' Ventura."
That was an allusion to Yordano Ventura, who lit up the radar gun with 100-mph fastballs during his start against the Mariners in Monday night's 6-5 win in 12-innings.
Shields was drilled by a line drive in the third inning on Sunday, but he continued to pitch eight shutout innings in the Royals' 10-inning, 4-0 victory.
"It's going great, man, it's real good," he said. "It's a little swollen, but it's actually gone down pretty good."
It also turns out Ventura developed a fingernail crack on his pitching hand early in Monday night's game.
"He kind of cracked his nail a little bit in the third inning, which is the reason why I got a little nervous," manager Ned Yost said. "But they got it all trimmed up. It was just a little crack, not earth-shaking news."
Ventura is on track to make his third and last start on Saturday night at Chicago.