Chris Perez a “little rusty” but “pain-free” during bullpen

JUPITER, Fla. — Chris Perez threw about 25 pitches in a bullpen session this morning and said his shoulder is pain-free and game-ready. Now if only the St. Louis Cardinals’ reliever could get in a game.

“It was 100 percent,” Perez said. “A little rusty. But the shoulder fine. No pain.”

Perez plans to throw on flat ground Wednesday morning to work some of the kinks out of his delivery and his slider, and then he hopes to return to game action that afternoon. His plan would be to appear in six games — essentially every other day from here to the end of spring training — in hopes of making up for lost time in the closer competition. He has not appeared in a game since March 11.

In his absence, Jason Motte has excelled in ninth-inning opportunities.

The righthander threw “max’d out” in the bullpen session. He tried all of his pitches: fastball, curve, slider and two-seam fastball. He lacked command and polish, but said that likely comes from having more than a week off from the mound.

Perez had been diagnosed with impingement or tendinitis in his right shoulder. He had a “knotting” sensation in the front of his shoulder that sent the Cardinals scurrying for MRIs and exams.

No structural damage was found in any of the scans.

“I think this was just normal spring training wear and tear,” Perez said. “We didn’t know what it was so that’s why we went had the MRI and the tests and all that stuff. But maybe it was just normal to feel this way a this point in spring training. If I was a 10-year veteran I would have known what it was and gone in for treatment. It’s something now that I’ve learned.”

(stltoday.com)