BRADENTON, Fla. – Francisco Cervelli hasn’t fully returned from his foot discomfort, but made some progress today. He threw, hit in the cage, and said he felt good at the end of the day.
Cervelli was expected to return to the field today. It doesn’t sound like he will miss a lot of time with the issue. In response to playing in the World Baseball Classic, he said that he’s got time and needs to feel 100%.
“I’m working hard to just get better soon,” Cervelli said.
Other than that, he deferred to the medical staff and Head Athletic Trainer Todd Tomczyk on when he would be ready to fully return.
“I just follow Todd,” Cervelli said. “Whenever he tells me I’m ready, I’m ready. I’m just a player. They went to school, and they know more than I do.”
We should hear more on Cervelli tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Josh Bell had a full workout today, taking grounders at first, taking live BP, and doing some work after practice with Kevin Young. Bell said that he’s not feeling any pain from his knee surgery a few weeks ago, and the only thing he’s working on now is getting comfortable from both sides of the plate.
“The swing feels good. I tried to take advantage of the reps I got this past week,” Bell said. “Still found myself kind of jumping on baseballs at times. Just trying to let the ball get deep, and if I can do that, it’s where the damage falls.”
Bell took some ground balls before batting practice, and showed a good ability to move around. One grounder was hit hard toward the line, and he ranged over to make the play, spun, and threw down to second.
“It feels like how I felt last month when I was taking ground balls,” Bell said. “I feel good. I feel like I laid that foundation in the offseason. It’s starting to show now, and hopefully I can work off that today.”
Clint Hurdle commented on Bell’s first full day after practice today.
“It was good to see him out on the field today,” Hurdle said. “He was involved with all the different tasks. Good to see him in camp now, working hard to get a little bit better.”
