Image courtesy of The Plain Dealer
It’s been a long time since Tribe fans have heard about pitcher Anthony Reyes, even longer since they’ve seen him throw. But it seems that he may be coming to a big league ballpark soon.
The 28-year-old right-hander is currently pitching at AA Akron to complete his rehab assignment from Tommy John surgery. So far he has completed two starts: one for the Arizona Rookie league team, and one in Akron.
In Arizona Reyes pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, walking two and striking out six. He was credited for the loss in that outing, but his numbers indicated a strong return from a lengthy injury lay-off.
Pitching for Akron, Reyes was forced to leave after 4.2 innings because of back problems. In that start he allowed nine runs on seven hits, walking seven and striking out two. While this start may seem discouraging, his injury could be blamed for the poor performance, and getting innings in is a positive at this stage of his rehab.
Manny Acta was quoted back in July as saying the plan is “to have Anthony back here at sometime [in the second half],” after his slight back setback, it seems like September would be the most likely month for his return.
The big question for fans, however, will revolve around whether or not Reyes can be a serious option for the rotation in 2011. The last time that Reyes pitched in a big league game was May 22, 2009, which is similar to another righty who had a pretty decent year with the Indians this year.
Reyes is not Jake Westbrook, however, and does not have the career numbers of a guy like Westbrook. Rather, I would compare him to another injury-prone USC product: Mark Prior. Hopefully the Indians can get more life out of their Trojan than the Cubs and Padres got, but for now his biggest accomplishment may be returning from injury.
Original Story:
http://www.wahooblues.com/2010/08/07/...
