Zumaya to Toledo, Willis to Lakeland for rehabs

Zumaya to Toledo, Willis to Lakeland for rehabs
BECK'S BLOG


I'm off this weekend, going back to work during the Angels series next week, but I figured I'd give a quick heads-up about the decisions on two rehab stints, courtesy of MLB.com's Doug Miller in Seattle:

* Joel Zumaya is going to join Triple-A Toledo for a stint beginning with an appearance Saturday. Not a whole lot of details were available beyond that, but based on what Zumaya said was the plan at the end of Spring Training, he wasn't going to be headed out of Lakeland until the final step of his rehab, which would be to see him a little against tougher competition and more importantly to see how his arm handles pitching on back-to-back days. The Mud Hens are in Columbus Saturday and Sunday with an off-day scheduled for Monday before they're back in Toledo for a homestand starting Tuesday.

* Dontrelle Willis, meanwhile, will be starting a rehab stint for Class A Lakeland on Tuesday. Leyland said he pitched in an extended Spring Training game on Thursday and, according to reports, "looked fantastic," with 48 of his 62 pitches for strikes and a fastball at 90-92. "They were legitimate strikes, too," Leyland told reporters. "The younger kids weren't swinging at balls outside the strike zone." To answer what I anticipate the next question might be, Dontrelle can pitch for up to 30 days in a Minor League stint before the Tigers have to make a move of some sort.

Enjoy the weekend. Hopefully you can get out and enjoy this weather if you're in the area before the rain arrives for Sunday.

Posted on April 17, 2009 at 8:27 PM

Hooray