DETROIT _ Orioles closer Zach Britton will take a minor milestone step forward in his recovery from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon Friday when he throws off a half-mound for the first time.
The Orioles have a half-mound inside at Camden Yards, and all parties are excited for him to take this next step.
"That's a good step for us," manager Buck Showalter said. "We'll do that a couple times. If that goes well, we'll proceed to the next (step). We'll probably proceed to the mound if that goes well. I know he's excited about putting his foot on the rubber, a real mound."
Britton, who is on the 60-day disabled list, is eligible to come off on May 27. Showalter has said often in the spring and now in the regular season that he's been ahead of schedule. But after Britton rushed back some last year from a forearm injury and missed two months because of it, the team is using the fact that he can't come back before May 28 to not rush him.
Britton has been traveling with the team for his rehabilitation and is on a prescribed throwing program, but hasn't toed a mound of any kind as part of that.
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