Mark O'Neal Quotations

The key for us is to do whatever we can so he doesn't lose arm strength.

There isn't a pitcher out there who we don't treat for soreness. Unfortunately, Mark was describing it as pain.

He had no complaints until he came off the field the other day, and the complaints were significant enough. He was telling us he was definitely in pain making some of his throws, and that's when we decided to progress the way we did. I can't answer why it started the other day, and it hadn't prior.

He had cramping all over his body that started in his calves and lower back. For whatever reason, it manifested itself more as a neck strain.

I'm very pleased. There's bad news, extremely bad news, that could come out of it.

There's extremely bad news that could've come out of (the early report). This is a posterior shoulder strain, and we'll deal with it like you would a hamstring strain. Unfortunately, it's in the shoulder. For us, it is pretty good news.

It was about a 20-minute procedure, exactly what they were looking for. There were no surprises, but let's let him get back here and see how he is doing.

He's not where he can do the quick movements yet. His strength is improving dramatically and his lower body is significantly stronger than it has been at any time this year, but some of the functional things on the field, he's just not ready yet.