Rondon restarts throwing program in Florida

BOSTON -- Don't rule Bruce Rondon out for the postseason just yet. More importantly, don't chalk him up to a major elbow injury quite yet, either.

The hard-throwing reliever, limited to only one outing over the last month and a half of the regular season due to elbow inflammation, began his throwing program again this weekend in Florida.

Rondon played a light session of catch from about 90 feet on Saturday, head athletic trainer Kevin Rand told MLB.com. It's the first time he has been able to throw since reporting to the Tigers' Florida instructional league team in Lakeland.

Rand did not want to speculate on the chances of getting Rondon back to pitching shape in time for the World Series, should the Tigers advance out of the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox. The timing of a throwing progression, from long-tossing to mound sessions to facing actual hitters, would seem to rule it out.

That said, the fact that the Tigers are still working him out at all at this point would seem to suggest they hold out some possibility. At the very least, getting him back into pitching shape before the offseason would likely give them some peace of mind once they start to map out their bullpen plans for next season.