Former All-Star sinkerballer Brandon Webb has had a long, long road to recovery from shoulder problems, and he threw two scoreless innings for the Texas Rangers in an extended spring training game. That's the encouraging news, but not everything went as expected. From ESPN.com's Jason Grey:
Webb done - two clean innings, 16 pitches - high stays at 84 - more tomorrow
Webb was never a fireballer, mind you, as his velocity usually hovers between 87 and 88 MPH when he's right, but any time a player comes back from major shoulder problems, his velocity is going to get scrutinized.
When the Rangers signed Webb, they obviously knew he was going to be a bit of a project - he's only pitched four innings since 2008 - but they were hoping he'd compete for a rotation spot in the spring. While that didn't happen, just getting Webb on a mound is a big step. They'll hope for more progress from here.