Greenhill could return this weekend
AUBURN | The injury situation for No. 9 Auburn is starting to look up going into the third week of conference play.
Reliever Cody Greenhill, who has been out since March 10 with mononucleosis, could return for this weekend’s series against Missouri. The freshman right-hander will undergo another blood test on Wednesday. He is 1-0 with three saves and leads the team with a 0.49 ERA.
“I’ll be disappointed if Cody Greenhill is not ready for us this weekend, but the doctors, him, me, nobody’s in control of that. That test Wednesday will answer that,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said.
“He says he feels better than he had for like his last two or three outings that he had, but he’s not a robot. He hadn’t pitched for a period of time just being back in a ballgame. Do I just throw him into the biggest game on the line when he hasn’t pitched in two or three weeks? That’s going to be the million dollar question.”
The Tigers could have another top arm back next week. Andrew Mitchell, who has been out since Feb. 27 with forearm tightness, threw without issue late last week and will throw a bullpen at the end of this week. If the senior left-hander doesn’t have a setback, he could return in time for a key series at No. 6 Arkansas April 6-8.
“Andrew threw great,” Thompson said. “He definitely will not be on our 27-man with Missouri this week … and hopefully we get him back the next weekend. If nothing changes, I think this will be his last weekend out.”
Mitchell hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out 16 in 9.1 innings. Getting one and preferably both over the next two weeks would be a big boost to an Auburn team that is 20-5 overall and 3-3 in the SEC.
“That would be huge. It’s definitely big having those guys in the bullpen, especially with what happened this weekend,” said senior second baseman Luke Jarvis. “Having those guys, especially Bull (Greenhill) with his mentality on the mound, it’s just awesome playing behind him. You know you’re going to get a lot of strikes and he’s going to work quick. You’re not going to do a lot of standing out there waiting around. I’m looking forward to it.”
Third baseman Josh Anthony appeared to suffer a lower leg injury in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader at Kentucky. The injury turned out to be just a cramp, and he was used as a DH in game three.
“It looked like somebody stepped in a hole or something,” Thompson said. “I didn’t know if it was ankle or knee. ‘Man, that doesn’t look good.’ And I almost smiled when I heard cramp.”
Auburn returns to action Tuesday against Alabama in the Capital City Classic. First pitch at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. The Tigers return to SEC play next weekend as Missouri visits Plainsman Park for a three-game series.