Last offseason, the Nationals signed Chien-Ming Wang to a "make good" contract, even though he was not going to be able to pitch for them last year. The hope was that he would would rehab on the Nationals' dime, and be able to return to the rotation sometime during the 2011 season. That is why they signed him to another contract this offseason.
Well, spring training has rolled around, and Wang doesn't seem to be ready. According to Ben Goessling at MASN, Wang tried to throw in a simulated game today, but was only able to last one inning.
Wang threw 16 pitches, 10 of them strikes, and topped out at 83 mph with his sinker. He was scheduled to go two innings, but McCatty cut the outing short after Wang, who hasn't pitched in a game in almost two years because of shoulder surgery, said his arm felt stiff at the end of his first inning.
"He looked OK," McCatty said. "It was real windy. We were going to go one, possibly two, depending on how he felt. But he was a little bit stiff, so it was one. That's fine with me. It's an ongoing process."
You can't be in a good place when wind is significantly affecting your pitching/stamina. Newly acquired pitcher Tom Gorzellany also threw a simulated game, and his results were a little bit better, if only because he was able to throw the full two innings.
Gorzelanny has been set back this spring because of a sinus infection and some arm stiffness. He threw 26 pitches, 15 of them for strikes. He topped out at 85 mph, and mostly sat between 83 and 84 mph. He's historically thrown in the low 90s, and the Nationals expect him to get to that point as the spring goes on.