NEW YORK – Josh Johnson’s MRI revealed no structural damage and left him on track to start next week, while R.A. Dickey is expected to make his outing Sunday as planned for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Johnson skipped a start Friday after a bout of tightness in his right biceps snuck up on him during his Apr. 21 outing against the New York Yankees, when he allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks in 5.1 innings.
An MRI revealed “a little tiny bit of inflammation and that’s it,” Johnson said Saturday, before adding “all good news.”
“The first the thing they always look at whenever it’s in that area is always the ligament,” Johnson added. “Everything looks really good, just got to get (the inflammation) out of there and start throwing.”
Also good is that the nagging tightness between Dickey’s neck and right shoulder shouldn’t keep him from starting Sunday. The knuckleballer has been fighting the issue since it flared up during a game April 13 at Kansas City, and needed to adjust his release point last Tuesday to work around the pain.
Dickey threw a light bullpen Friday in preparation for his start, and manager John Gibbons said the plan was for him to start the series finale against the Yankees.
“I haven’t heard anything different,” said Gibbons. “Maybe it affects him a little bit, but not enough that he can’t pitch. He pitches like he’s been doing he’ll be fine.”
The plan for Johnson is to play catch Sunday if the tightness allows, or Monday if not, leading to a bullpen session and eventual start. His regular day would be Thursday against Boston, but setting an exact date won’t happen until he plays catch.
“Then we’ll kind of figure out the schedule from there,” he said.