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March 18, 2015The Governor of Brohio may not be ready to start on Opening Day, but he’s getting closer to returning to full action.
Nick Swisher ran the bases for the first time this spring training season Tuesday. The Plain Dealer‘s Paul Hoynes reported Swish’s latest progress in Arizona, and said that running the bases is among the last steps a player recovering from a lower body injury must take before returning to full game action.
Swisher’s 2014 season ended with injury, and he had arthroscopic surgery on both knees last August. The surgery was meant to relieve chronic discomfort in both knees, which Swisher is said to have had due to wear and tear on his medial menisci, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.
Francona understands what lies ahead for Swisher, as the Tribe skipper has two artificial knees and has a score of knee surgeries under his belt.
From Hoynes:
“It’s a big step, but after that you have to go to live stuff,” said Francona. “All the things he’s doing know, he knows what direction he’s going.
“Decelerating is the hardest thing for him. When you’re playing a position or running the bases and have to jam on the breaks, that will come.
“Everytime you try to do something new, it’s mental along with being physical,” said Francona. “With Swish it seems like every time the trainers give him something else, the first day is a little bit of a test. Then once he realizes he can do it, the next day he does better.
“It’s been that way pretty much all spring training.”
The 34 year-old Swisher was, considering his usually ebullient demeanor, wildly reserved in describing how his most recent rehab exercise went.
Said Swisher, “It felt good, not great, but good.
“Once I got going, I was OK. Decelerating has always been an issue.
“It just felt good to get back on the dirt again. It was a good first step.”
There is no official timetable for Swisher’s return, and it seems unlikely that the Indians will rush him back before he’s fully healed. The Indians open the season in Houston on April 6, with the home opener April 10 against the Detroit Tigers.
7 Comments
Hit the jacks and gaps and you won’t have to decelerate very fast.
Just get ready for the phrase: that’s the longest hit single of the year folks.
Better than: and yet another (pop up, fly out, GIDP) in a clutch at bat
Like a bad penny …
5.6 billion pennies
The best part about a Swisher injury is that Murphy/Raburn DH combination.
yeah, we traded Asdrubal Cabrera