Chicago White Sox starting pitcher John Danks hasn't had a great 2012 season, but the team is hoping he can still work his way back onto the mound and help with a playoff run. Danks has only started nine times this year, and he holds a 3-4 record with a 5.70 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 23 walks over 53.2 innings of work, and now the Sox are trying to cut down his long toss regimen to get him back on the mound quicker as he recovers from a left shoulder strain.
Scott Merkin of MLB.com recently spoke with Robin Ventura and Don Cooper, and Chicago's pitching coach noted that the team is hoping Danks can come back by late-August or early-September:
"It's getting to that point where it's going to have happen pretty fast for him to be able to go down and have a rehab assignment and feel strong enough where he can come in here and pitch," Ventura said. "It's getting closer and closer to that time, and if not, you kind of look toward next year."
"We were thinking maybe late August, maybe early September," Cooper said. "And then, if it's not early September, maybe it's the start of 2013. Nobody really knows. That's going to unfold in front of us, one way or another."
With the Detroit Tigers back in the thick of the AL Central race, the White Sox will need all the help they can get.
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