16 months after Tommy John surgery, Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl on track for season

Chad Kuhl had an eventful offseason in which he got married and traveled to the Caribbean to attend another wedding.

The outlook for 2020 is a conventional, normal season for Kuhl. And considering he hasn’t pitched in 19 months, that’s all Kuhl is asking for.

Kuhl’s recovery from Tommy John surgery has proceeded without any glitches, and the right-hander is prepared to report to Pittsburgh Pirates spring training next month. Kuhl said he’s thrown a pair of fastball/changeup bullpen sessions over the past week.

“Next week, I’ll flip to all-pitch bullpens,” Kuhl said Saturday from PiratesFest at PNC Park. “And then two weeks of that, and then the week after that we will look to maybe face live hitters when I get down to spring training.

“Everything’s feeling good and seems to be on track.”

#Pirates Chad Kuhl stepped back onto the pitching mound last week in what can be considered an encouraging sign 11 months after Tommy John surgery https://t.co/hHwX7s7pnx

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) August 20, 2019

Kuhl hasn’t pitched since June 2018. He had UCL surgery that September and spent all of last season in rehab, throwing to live hitters in September.

He was a middle-of-the-rotation starter for the Pirates for two years from his debut in June 2016 until his injury. If healthy, he would figure to push one of the incumbents in the Pirates’ rotation – though there has been speculation that Kuhl’s longterm outlook might be better as a reliever.

Kuhl, for his part, is just happy to be back pitching.

“Not just throwing, but I couldn’t really straighten my arm and flex it or anything like that without pain before surgery,” he said. “So definitely a world of difference to know that I’m healed, and everything is working the way it should.”

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