Rich Harden's shoulder saga continues

MESA, Ariz. - Now the story can be told, at least part of it.

After Cubs pitcher Rich Harden got done talking about - and talking around - his troublesome right shoulder, he revealed Saturday that the problems may have begun with something other than a pitch.

"Actually, how I think I initially hurt my shoulder, which led to these problems over the last year and a half, two years, was I threw a pitch, (and the batter hit) a kind of comebacker," Harden said. "It was a one-hopper, and I tried to bare-hand it. It was over my head, over my throwing shoulder.

"That's when I did it. It wasn't really throwing it. It was doing that. From that point, it's been something we got to manage."

Harden described the injury as happening "awhile back," while he was with Oakland, and the shoulder has come one of the defining factors in the career of the 27-year-old right-hander out of British Columbia, Canada.

The Cubs obtained Harden, along with pitcher Chad Gaudin, last July from the Athletics for outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson and pitcher Sean Gallagher.

Like everybody in baseball, the Cubs knew Harden had shoulder issues when they traded for him, but that didn't stop Harden from striking out 10 in each of his first 3 starts for the Cubs.

As the season wore on, the cranky shoulder seemed to wear down. Harden started Aug. 29 and then not again until Sept. 11.

Mum was largely the word from Harden and the Cubs as to his condition, even as he had a cortisone shot.

A report this winter surfaced that Harden has a small tear in the shoulder - actually, any strain contains some micro-tears - but the Cubs have remained steadfast that Harden has had his best winter of work (all most all of it done in Arizona) and that he'll be ready when the season opens.

"Everybody's got their opinions," he said. "It's funny. People are telling me that they're reading this and that. Whatever. That's something that I've just got to deal with.

"There's nothing, nothing that bad."

Whatever the case, Harden did not take to the mound Saturday morning as Cubs pitchers and catchers held their first formal workouts of spring training.

Instead, he threw from the outfield grass under the supervision of trainer Mark O'Neal.

"That's just part of the routine; don't' read anything into it," said manager Lou Piniella. "Remember, we've got a much longer time this spring than normal, so we don't really need to rush anybody. He's been throwing. He feels nice and strong and healthy. Basically, we're just holding him back a little bit."

General manager Jim Hendry said the Cubs are "working backward" from April 7, the second day of the regular season, with Harden. That doesn't mean Harden, if healthy, will start that day, but he seemed in accord with team plans that he'll be ready the first week.

"Oh, yeah, that's my plan all the time," Harden said. "It's not going to be any different. That's what we're doing. That's what I've been working toward. I'm feeling really good now. Basically, it's something I've got to manage and stay strong, and yeah, I'll be ready to go by the start of the season."

When healthy, Harden has what many in the game call "world-class" stuff, with his fastball tickling 100 mph. Combined with the A's and Cubs last year, he went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA. The Cubs have talked about being happy if Harden is able to make 25 starts this season.

"I'd like more," he said. "Thirty's what I'd like to get. I haven't really gotten that yet. That's kind of my goal. Twenty-five? That would be good, and I definitely want more.

"This is probably the strongest my shoulder has felt. Throwing, I've been feeling pretty good."

Just as he cautioned against reading too much into Saturday's events, Piniella downplayed the magic 25 number for Harden.

"You know what? We threw out that number," Piniella said. "He might pitch 32. You never know. We're going to watch his pitch count, keep him strong. This kid loves to compete, but at the same time, we're aware that he's had some physical problems, and we're not going to overtax him. But I would anticipate that during the course of this summer, we're going to need some innings from one or two (other) pitchers."