M’s Furbush on rehab outing with AquaSox: ‘It felt amazing’
Published 7:45 pm Friday, July 8, 2016
EVERETT — Charlie Furbush thought it had been exactly a year to the day since he last took the mound in a competitive game.
It turns out it was actually a year and a day, but either way Furbush was thrilled to finally get back on the hill.
“It felt amazing,” said the Seattle Mariners relief pitcher, who made a rehabilitation appearance with the Everett AquaSox on Friday night. “It’s been a while, so I was extremely pleased to get out there and come out of it feeling great.”
Furbush, a left-handed specialist, was a fixture in Seattle’s bullpen the past four seasons, appearing in 219 games. Last season he was in the midst of his best campaign with the Mariners, compiling a 2.08 ERA and 0.646 WHIP in 33 games. However, his final appearance came on July 7 and he was shut down for the remainder of the season because of a shoulder injury that was later diagnosed as a partially torn rotator cuff. He’s currently on the 60-day disabled list.
Furbush’s recovery has been slow this season, with his timeline adjusted on several occasions. So Friday’s outing, in which he threw two-thirds of an inning starting the first game of Everett’s doubleheader against the Eugene Emeralds, was a significant step forward.
“(My arm) felt great,” Furbush said. “I’ve got some things to work on. It’s kind of like my spring training, so I have a few more things to tighten up. I need to work on my delivery and find my release point consistently with all my pitches so I can throw high-quality strikes. I think that will just come in time.”
While Furbush gave his arm a passing grade physically following Friday’s appearance, it wasn’t quite matched in the results. Furbush was originally slated to pitch a full inning. However, he wasn’t able to make it through that inning after giving up a solo home run to Eugene’s Matt Rose, hitting Jose Paniagua with a pitch, then allowing a two-run homer to Wladimir Galindo.
In total Furbush faced five batters. He threw 22 pitches, 12 of which were strikes. He focused primarily on his fastball as 19 of his pitches were fastballs versus just three breaking balls.
“The two that went over the fence, those were just down the middle, anybody can hit those out,” Furbush said when discussing his command. “That’s something I need to work on. Things that are going to separate it all is me being able to throw high-quality strikes. Down in the zone, down and away, the same with my fastball and my breaking ball. I came out of it healthy, and that’s the most important part.”
Furbush said the next step in his recovery will be another appearance with the Sox on Monday. After that he expects to join the triple-A Tacoma Rainiers for a couple weeks, then he hopes he’s ready to rejoin the Mariners just before the July 31 trade deadline.
