Rehabbing starting pitchers Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu have spent the last few weeks seemingly on parallel paths as they work their way back from last year’s season-ending surgeries.
McCarthy underwent Tommy John surgery on April 30, 2015, while Ryu’s season officially came to an end with shoulder surgery on May 21 to repair a torn labrum. A few days removed from Ryu having done so, McCarthy threw a bullpen session on the Dodger Stadium mound on Monday afternoon.
“Brandon looked really good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s going to face hitters next week. Velocity was good, I think he got up to 89 mph with the fastball. He was throwing fastball, changeup, breaking ball and cutter over three innings.”
Roberts was more than a onlooker during McCarthy’s bullpen, as the first-year manager stood on each side of the batter box during the session. “I was much more comfortable on the left side than the right,” Roberts joked.
He then continued: “The reason I like to stand in is to see the late life in the hitting zone. The sinker was really good.” Roberts approximated McCarthy will throw 40 pitches in the upcoming the live batting practice session.
Similarly, Ryu is scheduled to throw another bullpen session on Tuesday. He’ll then advance to facing live hitters before beginning a rehab assignment. Roberts previously estimated the two starters would return within one week of each other.
McCarthy’s and Ryu’s progress and throwing schedule puts each on track to make a regular-season debut some time in June. Meanwhile, Mike Bolsinger threw four innings in his first rehab start on Saturday with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
