SAN DIEGO (AP) -Padres right-hander Chris Young threw a simulated game on Saturday, the latest step in his comeback from a broken nose and fractured skull sustained when he was hit in the face by Albert Pujols’ line drive on May 21.
“It went well. I felt good,” said Young, who hopes to return to the rotation sometime after the All-Star break.
The 6-foot-10 Young, who was an All-Star last year, threw about 45 pitches over three innings.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised the whole time about where I’ve been,” said Young, who was left bloodied and dazed in the most serious of several injuries that have hit the last-place Padres. “I think I’ve been a little bit sharper than I thought I would be. I’ve skipped a start before and come back and not been as sharp as where I am now. But I’ve still got a ways to go, so hopefully I’ll keep improving.”
The next step for Young is to have surgery on Monday to repair his septum so he can breathe through his nose again.
“If it wasn’t for the skull fracture I would have had the septum surgery within like three or four days of the actual injury,” Young said. “They like to do that immediately, but they wouldn’t do that while the skull was cracked.”
Young will take four to seven days off after the surgery, so he’s been focusing on getting in shape.
“I feel like I’ve made significant strides in the past couple of weeks, increasing my activity, increasing my throwing and my bullpens,” he said. “Hopefully I’ve expedited the recovery process on the back end. I have the surgery, take some days off, maybe up to a week, then pick back up where I left off, get on a rehab assignment and get back out here.”
Manager Bud Black said Young will go into surgery “with a little bit of stamina built up from this today. It’s great to see him back on the mound. He’s happy and excited about where he is.”
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