Ian Desmond is swinging a bat but he is not quite in the swing of things. The Rockies’ big-ticket free-agent addition, though, is nearing a return to action.
“I’m not back yet,” he said Thursday. “But I’m close.”
Desmond will fly with the Rockies to Arizona on Thursday night. When the team starts a three-game series against the Diamondbacks on Friday, Desmond will split off to play in extended spring training games at the club’s Scottsdale headquarters.
And Desmond, recovering from surgery to repair a broken hand suffered in mid-March, will begin preparing for multiple positions.
“He’s ready for everything,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “He’s gonna get volume. Which is what he wants. He told me, ‘I want grounders, I want fly balls, I want swings in the cage, I want at-bats in extended games.'”
Desmond will play in games Friday and Saturday, then work Sunday off-field.
“He’s getting close,” Black said. “Closer than you think.”
