Cardinals' Mulder struggles in Triple-A rehab start

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Cardinals' Mulder struggles in Triple-A rehab start
05/01/2008 6:21 PM ET
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS -- In Mark Mulder's first Triple-A rehabilitation start, he didn't take a step backward. So that's something. But neither did Mulder take a step forward, and that's a bit concerning.
Mulder, making his fourth Minor League start in his attempt to come back from September shoulder surgery, was roughed up on Wednesday. He permitted nine runs, seven earned, in 3 2/3 innings for the Cardinals' Memphis affiliate. Mulder was reached for three home runs among the nine hits against him; he struck out one and walked one.
After an extremely encouraging start at Double-A Springfield five days earlier, the results were disheartening. But Mulder emphasized that he felt fine, and said that his delivery and release point were as good as in his previous outing.
"I kind of felt like things didn't get worse," Mulder said. "My arm didn't drop. My delivery didn't change. That stayed the same the entire game. I was happy with that.
"It's just that my location was terrible. I can work on location. If I would have gotten out of whack or if I'd gotten messed up during the game, then I would have gotten frustrated with it."
Still, it's no longer a foregone conclusion that Mulder will be added to the Cardinals' Major League starting rotation when his 30-day rehabilitation period ends. He began his rehab on April 15 with a start at Class A Palm Beach. So he can go again on May 5 and May 10, but after that, he can't make any more rehab starts.
The Cardinals have begun pondering what the options are regarding Mulder. It's conceivable that in two more starts, he could get sharp enough to join the Major League rotation. But it's not a given.
"There's no decision that's been made at this point," said general manager John Mozeliak.
According to the Memphis radio broadcast, Mulder pitched at about 88 miles per hour in the early going before dropping into the mid-80s in his last inning. He threw a wide variety of pitches and got some groundballs, but also left quite a few pitches high in the strike zone as the game went on.
"I didn't control the strike zone at all," he said. "I was throwing strikes, but they weren't good strikes. Everything was up over the plate. Everything was kind of flat. There were certain times where it was OK, but I did not control the strike zone whatsoever."
The Cardinals didn't send any extra observers to the game, an indication that even beforehand, they did not expect it to be a decisive outing. Nonetheless, the result was disappointing, even though Mulder felt OK.
"It's going to be a process for him," said Memphis pitching coach Blaise Ilsley. "He kept the ball down for the most part the first three innings. Then in the fourth he started getting under some pitches and elevating a bit. Things kind of snowballed from there. I talked with him and he said he felt fine. It was just a matter of making some mistakes with his location."
It's been no secret for some time now that Mulder expected to take the entire 30 days. But it's striking that the possibility now exists that 30 days may not even be enough. For the time being, the Cardinals will wait and see. They'll let Mulder take two more starts, and then figure things out when the time comes.
"He's had some pretty good throws lately," Mozeliak said. "It could just be one of those days where it just wasn't going right."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.