Notes: Rolen making progress
Third baseman back
with Cards after missing road trip
by Matthew Leach /
MLB.com
ST.
LOUIS -- Scott Rolen saw his teammates -- and
reporters -- on Monday, the first time he had gotten
any face time with either since his shoulder surgery
on May 13.
He was considerably more pleased to visit with
the former than the latter, but he took time to
discuss his rehabilitation from a sprained left
shoulder. Rolen sustained the injury in a collision
with the Dodgers' Hee-Seop Choi. The six-time Gold
Glover, who skipped the Cardinals' recent three-city
road trip, said that he's encouraged by his progress
in rehab.
"It's coming along pretty well," Rolen said.
Rolen's timetable for a return to action remains
unchanged at about four to six weeks. Head athletic
trainer Barry Weinberg said that by undergoing
surgery to clean up some damage to his left labrum,
Rolen probably cut down the time before he can
return, rather than increasing it.
"The surgery created a situation where he could
get his range of motion back quickly," Weinberg
said. "That was the smartest thing he did and
probably expedited the time of his recovery. I think
if he had to deal with the ongoing issue, it would
have been more annoying and irritating, and it would
have taken longer for that to heal. Now he doesn't
have it there."
Rolen is doing approximately an hour of shoulder
work per day. For the time being, he's working on
improving his range of motion and strengthening his
shoulder. It's not yet time for him to begin
baseball activities.
"It kind of limits itself a little bit," Rolen
said. "I do whatever I can. I don't think that I can
go out and swing a bat. That's stupid, trying to do
something like that. But washing your hair, lifting
your arm, reaching things on the top shelf, if it
hurts you they say don't do it. If it doesn't, go
ahead. So I use it whenever I can."
