Arodys Vizcaino pitched in his first game since July 11 on Saturday, delivering a scoreless ninth in the Braves’ 7-1 loss to the Nationals.
Vizcaino recently came off the 60-day disabled list for throwing shoulder inflammation, missing 55 games. He’d recorded a 1.65 ERA with a career-best 15 saves in 32-2/3 innings.
“We’ve been playing really good baseball, so I was happy yesterday to be back and help the team,” Vizcaino said. “We’ll see how I feel today and what I can do after.”
The Braves will work Vizcaino back in slowly, having him pitch an inning every few days. Their hope is he’s 100 percent by the end of the regular season, giving the Braves a valuable bullpen piece for their potential postseason run.
Vizcaino threw 17 pitches, eight for strikes, in his latest frame. He struck out Victor Robles looking and induced a grounder from Adrian Sanchez before walking Adam Eaton. Trae Turner flew out to end the inning.
The radar gun had Vizcaino’s velocity in the high-90s, which surprised even him. He threw around 93-94 mph during his rehab appearances, a few ticks below SunTrust Park’s judgement on Saturday. It’s likely that’s an overestimation, but Vizcaino’s velocity hovering in the mid-90s is encouraging nonetheless.
Vizcaino and the Braves will take it day-to-day, but he felt healthy after his first appearance and will pitch again in the upcoming series against the Cardinals.
“(Saturday) I felt a little nervous after the last out, but (Sunday) it feels good,” he said.
