Major League Baseball

Brewers' Gomez expected to start rehab assignment

Published Aug. 27, 2011 1:04 a.m. ET

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Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez laughed at his ability to draw the ire of manager Ron Roenicke, hoping to prove he had recovered from a broken collarbone at the same time with a few swings at batting practice.

''I hit a couple of bombs,'' Gomez said Friday before the NL Central-leading Brewers took on the Chicago Cubs. ''Ron is (ticked) because I hit a home run. He tells me, `Hit a line drive,' and I was like, `No, I want to test if I'm strong enough.'''

As a precaution, Gomez, who broke his collarbone diving for a catch in a win over Arizona on July 20, will have X-rays taken one more time on Friday night before starting a rehab assignment at Class-A Wisconsin on Saturday.

''I'm going to be more happy when I see the bone healed completely on the X-ray. ... Right now, I'm still a little scared to do 100 percent running, throwing,'' he said. ''I don't feel nothing, but I have to wait for the X-rays. When the X-rays show everything is good, then I will.''

Roenicke laughed when told of Gomez's story about hitting home runs in batting practice, saying he ''does that a lot.'' Gomez has progressed better than expected after initially expecting to miss six weeks and needing surgery following his extraordinary effort on the catch that caused the bone to break in a tumbling fall.

Gomez, hitting .220 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 81 games, has been the left-handed bat of a platoon in center field with Nyjer Morgan as well as a defensive replacement. Roenicke didn't rule out Gomez's return before Sept. 1. The Brewers' minor league affiliate in Appleton plays its final home series of the year through Tuesday.

''Gomie is ready,'' Roenicke said. ''Right now we've just got him going to Appleton. It's not so important the level he's at; we just need him to play. He'll start with four, five innings and then try to progress up.''

The Brewers' other missing piece is second baseman Rickie Weeks, who ran on the field for the first time since severely spraining his left ankle on July 27. Weeks said he's progressing, but there's no timetable for when he will return.

''Full go, just feeling out strides. I wasn't trying to do any cuts, nothing like that,'' Weeks said. ''I'm starting to feel close, I think.''

Weeks was expected to miss at least six weeks with his injury and he continues to slowly recover. The All-Star said he'd rather stay with the team instead of taking a rehab assignment, but it's unlikely he could be ready to be sent out before the minor league regular seasons end in the coming days.

Weeks has been taking batting practice and said he's not concerned about regaining his timing, but needs to be able to cut hard on the ankle in the field and on the bases before he can return.

''Honestly, the hitting part is the easiest part,'' he said. ''Hitting, besides the first couple of days I hit, have been smooth sailing.''

Weeks was hitting .272 with 19 homers and 43 RBIs in 104 games before rolling his ankle awkwardly in a win over the Cubs. Since he's been out of the lineup, Milwaukee has won 22 of 27 games to go from a half-game back to 9 1/2 games ahead in the division heading into Friday's action.

Weeks, who expects to be fully healthy before the end of the year, isn't expected to need any surgery after the season ends, but Roenicke said the pain Weeks has had in the ankle will continue into the offseason.

''An ankle sprain like that doesn't go away in two, three months,'' Roenicke said. ''Now, can he play close to that (100 percent) level? Yeah, he can. But there's still going to be something there that he's going to feel.''

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