Coleman nearing return from DL

KANSAS CITY -- Right-hander Louis Coleman is back in the Royals' clubhouse and soon might be summoned off his stay on the disabled list.

Possibly by Tuesday, the first day he's eligible to return from a jammed middle finger on his pitching hand. That's been a problem since the first days of Spring Training when he was struck by a ball.

"Everything feels good and is pretty close to where it should be," Coleman said. "It's getting pretty close to where I don't even feel it or worry about it. Day-to-day things around the house are normal. It's just the unique thing of throwing a baseball was the only thing bothering it and, for the most part, that's gone."

The bone bruise in his finger was supposed to take about eight weeks to heal and, Coleman noted, it's been exactly 7 1/2 weeks.

Everything seemed fine with Coleman's finger in a late Cactus League game in which he struck out the side against the Rangers. Appearances were deceiving.

"That's probably the worst it felt," Coleman said. "But I'd learned how to pitch with how it was feeling. Then like the next game I didn't feel a thing for the next 20 pitches or whatever and it was an entirely different feeling. It was a real roller-coaster."

Coleman threw a side session at Kauffman Stadium on Monday and the Royals were to evaluate how he felt afterward.