The Baltimore Orioles' Tsuyoshi Wada took a step toward making his long-awaited major league debut Monday, throwing in the pen for the first time since last spring.
Wada missed all of last season, in his first year with Baltimore, after undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn left elbow ligament in May.
The 32-year-old southpaw threw a rehab session on Feb. 18 and the elbow held up in the week since, leading manager Buck Showalter to give Wada the green light for the bullpen work.
Wada is scheduled to pitch in live exhibition games in April before being called up in either May or June.
"I'm finally doing what a pitcher should be doing," Wada said. "It felt good taking in the environment and working with the catcher. Hopefully I can keep this up. I'll try to be patient, take my time."