After exiting his start in Houston early with shoulder soreness and then having his start skipped when the team returned to Seattle, Bryan Woo threw a bullpen today prior to Sunday’s series finale against the Cubs. Woo threw a complete bullpen with all of his pitches, and Pete Woodworth stood in against him for some of the at-bats.
Woo spoke briefly with the media after his bullpen session, saying he was pleased with how everything felt (“really good”) but even more pleased with the way he was able to throw his pitches, with comfort and confidence.
“I was able to throw everything – I wouldn’t say max effort, but with really really good intent,” Woo said. “Velo is one thing, but like, in your mind, you don’t want to have any hesitation on it.”
Specifically, Woo was encouraged by his ability to throw pitches other than his fastball with conviction in his bullpen session.
“I know I can throw sliders, breaking balls, whatever. Fastballs are the easiest anytime you’re coming back from injury or dealing with anything. Breaking balls I feel like are always tougher because it’s just like you really want to finish pitches. You don’t want to have any hesitation on finishing them. But everything felt good.”
That was also the assessment of those who stood in alongside Woo during his session, including pitching coaches Trent Blank, who offered a thumbs up as his assessment, and Pete Woodworth, who said Woo looked great (“struck me out.”) Logan Gilbert also said he thought Woo looked really good and ready to go (“wait, is this on the record? Don’t quote me on that!”).
For Woo, a challenge of assessing this soreness has been understanding where the team is in the season, and balancing the need for rest versus the needs of the team.
“It’s just being smart about what’s realistic. Being smart about a couple of days off and coming back and not missing much time. But it’s a really tough balance, especially this time of year, especially with the position that we’re in. We don’t have any room for grace. It’s a sprint now.”
However, having had a few years of experience under his belt and having dealt with both serious injuries and the everyday soreness that nags over the course of a long, grueling season, Woo is in a good position to know himself and know how to balance those needs.
“I think it’s all understanding your own body and yourself and how you know everything is supposed to feel and how everything’s supposed to move. So it wasn’t one of those things where I felt like, you know, the season was in jeopardy or something like that. It was just a matter of what’s the proper way of going about this. I’m dealing with it the right way, but I’m also staying on the field.”
The team is yet to announce what the plan will be with Woo or the future of the rotation going forward, but from Woo’s comments and the response today it seems like an IL stint is unlikely.
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