Brewers' Narveson aiming for prompt return

MILWAUKEE -- For the first time in a week, Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Chris Narveson threw a bullpen session Tuesday as he continues working back from a lacerated left thumb. Narveson sliced the thumb on his throwing hand while working on his glove with a pair of scissors last week in St. Louis. Oddly, it was actually the screw holding the scissors together that cut the thumb. Narveson said the screw was protruding a bit and his thumb got snagged on it. The left-hander had been playing light catch but had eight stitches taken out Monday and was able to begin throwing off a mound. Narveson said over the weekend he is able to throw his fastball at full strength but has to hold back on off-speed pitches. "He feels great," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said before Tuesday's game. "He's ready to go so we're kind of having to hold him back a little bit just to make sure everything is OK there." Narveson has been wearing a protective rubber sleeve over the cut and now that the stitches are out, the team's medical staff is using a skin glue to hold the cut together. Roenicke said Narveson would throw again on Thursday wearing just a bandage over the cut, primarily to keep dirt out. The Brewers will assess before Thursday if they feel Narveson is ready to throw to hitters that day. Roenicke and Narveson have expressed that they would like to see Narveson return during an Aug. 22 doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Because Narveson's time on the disabled list is retroactive to Aug. 7, he is eligible to return that day. Returning for one of those games remains a bit of a long shot, but the odds have been improving with Narveson's progress. "It's not out of the picture," Roenicke said. "We looked at it today and we were looking at days and if he throws Thursday and maybe again Saturday, he could pitch that Monday." In 23 starts this season, Narveson is 8-6 with a 4.49 ERA. K-Rod aching: Reliever Francisco Rodriguez was still feeling a little sore Tuesday after cramping up in both legs last Friday while running out his first big league hit. Roenicke said Rodriguez was unavailable to pitch in Tuesday's game, but was not overly concerned that the injury would continue to be an issue.