Phillies ace Aaron Nola returns to mound; reliever Seranthony Dominguez ‘really worried’ about elbow injury
Dominguez is scheduled for an MRI on his elbow on Thursday afternoon.
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Aaron Nola returned to a mound Thursday after a three-day absence because of illness.
It wasn't coronavirus.
Nola didn't even have the flu, as the Phillies initially reported. The ace right-hander said he came down with a stomach bug Monday, which caused him to be scratched from a scheduled start against the New York Yankees at Spectrum Field. But he said he never ran a fever and didn't need to be tested for influenza or the COVID-19 pandemic.
But as Nola threw a 40-pitch bullpen session at the Carpenter Complex and said he expected to be ready for what would have been opening day -- MLB suspended spring training Thursday and delayed the start of the regular season by at least two weeks in response to coronavirus concerns -- reliever Seranthony Dominguez was bracing for an MRI that would illuminate the severity of discomfort in his right elbow.
"I'm really worried," Dominguez said before leaving for the exam. "Because it's my career. It's my life."
Although the Phillies won't have more specifics on the injury until at least Friday, general manager Matt Klentak said he wouldn't have expected Dominguez to be ready for the originally scheduled season-opener on March 26 in Miami.
Dominguez said he felt tightness in his elbow after throwing his final pitch Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays and reported the symptoms to the Phillies’ medical staff Monday.
He missed the last four months of last season with a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow but avoided surgery on the recommendation of renowned surgeon James Andrews, who prescribed rest and rehabilitation instead.
The Phillies shut down Dominguez from throwing after Sunday's game. Klentak said the 25-year-old has been "responding pretty well" to testing and therapy over the last few days.
"At this stage it's premature for us to speculate on the severity," Klentak said. "I do think that it’s reasonable at this point to expect that Seranthony would be on the [injured list] to begin the year. But again, we don't know yet what the long-term impact is going to be."
Nola figured he would start a Grapefruit League game then a minor-league simulated game before camp was scheduled to break March 23, leaving him time to be ready to make his third consecutive opening-day start. Although manager Joe Girardi has not yet named an opening-day starter, he said the Phillies “have an idea” who it will be.
Now, though, Nola will have even more time to get ready for the season.