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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Schilling to work out of bullpen for more rehab
BOSTON -- With their closer struggling and their ace at partial strength, the Boston Red Sox are sending Curt Schilling to the bullpen to plug a gap there and help him work his way back from an ankle injury.
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<NOBR>http://www.sportsline.com/print/mlb/story/8624948 http://www.sportsline.com/emailafri...hilling to work out of bullpen for more rehab </NOBR>
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"It's definitely the best thing for him," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said Wednesday, " ... and it just so happens to be exactly what the team needs right now."
Schilling has been on a minor-league rehab assignment while trying to recover from a right ankle injury that put him on the disabled list after just three starts. In what was expected to be his last rehab appearance, he struggled to get through five innings with Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday.
Epstein said the team concluded that Schilling was "a long way" from being the ace who went 21-6 with a 3.26 ERA in the regular season before using an unprecedented medical technique to help pitch the Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918.
"We don't need a five-inning starter right now. We need Curt Schilling to be himself," Epstein said. "We all feel he's not ready to be a dominant starter right now."
Meanwhile, closer Keith Foulke returned to Boston to have both knees examined and find out whether an injury is causing his struggles. Foulke, who closed out all four games of Boston's World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, has a 5-5 record with a 6.23 ERA; he has 15 saves but he has blown four -- two in the past week.
If Foulke winds up on the disabled list, Schilling will combine with Alan Embree and Mike Timlin to make up for the closer's absence without the need for a trade.
"This helps us avoid doing something desperate and shortsighted," Epstein said, calling the move "short-term."
Schilling will pitch one inning in relief for Pawtucket on Thursday night. Epstein said more minor-league appearances would follow to help the 38-year-old righthander make the switch.
"He's on the phone right now with guys who've made the transition before," Epstein said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "It's remarkable for a guy who's been a starter for so long to put his interests behind the overall interests of the club. A lot of guys wouldn't be willing to do that."
Epstein said going to the bullpen won't delay Schilling's eventual return to the rotation. In Texas with his teammates on Tuesday, Schilling said there were still "physical issues ... just some inconsistency there, velocity-wise."
Schilling injured a tendon in his ankle near the end of the 2004 regular season and struggled in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series against New York. After testing an unprecedented procedure on a cadaver, the team doctor made a wall of stitches in Schilling's ankle to keep the tendon in place.
With blood seeping through his sock, Schilling beat the Yankees in Game 6, catapulting the Red Sox to an improbable comeback. The procedure was repeated before Game 2 of the World Series.
Schilling had surgery during the offseason and started the season on the disabled list. He went 1-2 with an 8.15 ERA before bruising his right ankle on April 23 and going back on the DL.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
BOSTON -- With their closer struggling and their ace at partial strength, the Boston Red Sox are sending Curt Schilling to the bullpen to plug a gap there and help him work his way back from an ankle injury.
</TD><TD align=right>
<NOBR>http://www.sportsline.com/print/mlb/story/8624948 http://www.sportsline.com/emailafri...hilling to work out of bullpen for more rehab </NOBR>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
"It's definitely the best thing for him," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said Wednesday, " ... and it just so happens to be exactly what the team needs right now."
Schilling has been on a minor-league rehab assignment while trying to recover from a right ankle injury that put him on the disabled list after just three starts. In what was expected to be his last rehab appearance, he struggled to get through five innings with Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday.
Epstein said the team concluded that Schilling was "a long way" from being the ace who went 21-6 with a 3.26 ERA in the regular season before using an unprecedented medical technique to help pitch the Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918.
"We don't need a five-inning starter right now. We need Curt Schilling to be himself," Epstein said. "We all feel he's not ready to be a dominant starter right now."
Meanwhile, closer Keith Foulke returned to Boston to have both knees examined and find out whether an injury is causing his struggles. Foulke, who closed out all four games of Boston's World Series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, has a 5-5 record with a 6.23 ERA; he has 15 saves but he has blown four -- two in the past week.
If Foulke winds up on the disabled list, Schilling will combine with Alan Embree and Mike Timlin to make up for the closer's absence without the need for a trade.
"This helps us avoid doing something desperate and shortsighted," Epstein said, calling the move "short-term."
Schilling will pitch one inning in relief for Pawtucket on Thursday night. Epstein said more minor-league appearances would follow to help the 38-year-old righthander make the switch.
"He's on the phone right now with guys who've made the transition before," Epstein said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "It's remarkable for a guy who's been a starter for so long to put his interests behind the overall interests of the club. A lot of guys wouldn't be willing to do that."
Epstein said going to the bullpen won't delay Schilling's eventual return to the rotation. In Texas with his teammates on Tuesday, Schilling said there were still "physical issues ... just some inconsistency there, velocity-wise."
Schilling injured a tendon in his ankle near the end of the 2004 regular season and struggled in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series against New York. After testing an unprecedented procedure on a cadaver, the team doctor made a wall of stitches in Schilling's ankle to keep the tendon in place.
With blood seeping through his sock, Schilling beat the Yankees in Game 6, catapulting the Red Sox to an improbable comeback. The procedure was repeated before Game 2 of the World Series.
Schilling had surgery during the offseason and started the season on the disabled list. He went 1-2 with an 8.15 ERA before bruising his right ankle on April 23 and going back on the DL.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
