Pitcher optimistic after latest rehab start

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Mark Mulder, recovering from shoulder surgery, said Saturday he’s getting closer to a return to the rotation despite spotty numbers in his last rehab start.

Pitching for Double-A Springfield on Friday night, Mulder allowed four runs in five innings with four walks and five strikeouts. Three of the walks came in the first inning. Mulder said that it was because he was able to get his arm angle higher and it created a different release point.

“I wasn’t missing by much, I was just missing by enough that everything was a ball,” Mulder said. “But I was 10 times happier with what I did yesterday and what I did six days ago.”

Mulder threw six scoreless innings in his previous rehab start, also for Springfield, but Mulder said the high strikeout count shows he had better stuff on Friday.

Mulder began the rehab assignment on April 15 and the team has indicated the left-hander — limited to 20 starts the last two seasons due to shoulder woes — might use all 30 days before returning. Mulder is optimistic that he might be ready much sooner.

“If things keep progressing the way I jumped up from last time to this time, it shouldn’t be that far away,” Mulder said. “But I’ve also got to go out there and be able to maintain it, control the strike zone and stuff like that before I can come back and do it against big league hitters.”

Mulder made only three starts last year, going 0-3 with a 12.27 ERA.