Shoulder Soreness Sidelines Gonzalez; Hamels Throws Bullpen

Jonathan Pettibone, Ethan Martin have come down with shoulder problems in camp. Mike Adams and Adam Morgan are both recovering from shoulder surgery. Cole Hamels is dealing with fatigued arm brought on by shoulder tendinitis. Get the theme here?

More news from the injury department is in as Phillies pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez will not pitch today because of…you guessed it, a sore shoulder.

Currently listed as day-to-day, Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro said that Gonzalez felt some anterior soreness in his shoulder after a long-toss session yesterday and has already seen a doctor. He will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Amaro forsees the issue as a minor one, setting the Cuban pitcher back a day or so. He will not make the trip to Sarasota today when the Phillies play Baltimore today.

The Phillies won the bidding war for Gonzalez with a six-year, $48 million deal, but he was later signed to a revised 3-year, $12 million deal when some of his medicals raised concern. Gonzalez has allowed five runs on six hits thus far in Spring Training. He has also walked six. 

Hamels Throws Bullpen Session: Cole Hamels threw a successful, pain-free bullpen session this morning. The Phillies lefty hit the reset button after experiencing fatigued arm from a 35-pitch bullpen session back on March 1st. He said throwing those 35 pitches felt like 1,000.

Today, Hamels threw 20 fastballs from the bullpen mound and said he felt great. This is something Cole would normally do the day before Spring Training, but he was encouraged after feeling no pain in today's session. 

Pitching coach Bob McClure said that Hamels would throw another bullpen in the next few days and go from there if he continues to pitch without pain in his shoulder. With Cole about a month behind schedule at this point, a return in April seems out of the question. 

Brandon Apter is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ApterShock

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