PITTSBURGH — Right-hander Evan Meek took the mound at PNC Park on Friday night for the first time since June 7th. It’s been a long season for Meek, who was on the 60-day disabled list with shoulder tendonitis.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it back this year,“ Meek said. “I certainty didn’t want to wait an entire off-season and an entire spring training to get back. I know I’m not at my peak level that I’m usually at. It’s just nice to get out there and nice to get out there and pitch. Hopefully I’ll get out there a few more times, call it a year, work very hard this off-season and come back for a healthy 2012.”
Going into spring training and trying to piece together the bullpen, the Pirates thought they had the 8th and 9th innings locked down with Meek and Joel Hanrahan. But Meek appeared in just 17 games (14.1 innings) this season with a 1-1 record, 4.40 ERA.
“It was a good moment to have him on the mound, to see him on the mound,” Manger Clint Hurdle said. “When he came in off the dugout, the smile on his face. Rehab has warn him out. There’s just been a lot of rehab involved. I can understand that there’s a point in time where that’s going to wear you out. I’m not worried about anything other than him getting on the mound, making pitches. I think its going to get where it needs to get.”
“We’ve never tried to overplay or downplay any injury,” Hurdle said. “We’ve just moved on from them. He was a big part of putting that bullpen in order and in line. That really never played out. We had to make some adjustments. And there’s been times where we’ve felt his vacancy throughout the season of having the guy that we saw in 2010 that shutdown the guy before Hanrahan. We definitely have another asset, another weapon out there.”
Meek allowed no runs on one hit with one strikeout in this 8th inning of the Pirates loss to the Marlins on last night, tossing 17 pitches.
“I felt good,” Meek said. “I felt rusty, I guess. It was really nice to be out there on that mound, just to run in from the bullpen. With each outing I’ll get better. I know there’s not a whole lot of time left in the season so I’m not really going to get in April, May, June, July form. When the season starts your first 10 outings, you keep building, you keep getting stronger then you hit your peak. I’m not going to get that. So for me, it’s really just about pitching. Just getting out there and getting that feel back, get in a good mental state for the off-season and come back strong next year.”
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports
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